After falling in game one on Thursday to the North Sanpete Hawks, the Spartans knew they would need a pair of wins on Friday to advance to the next round in the 3A State Championships. The first game on Friday looked as though they were headed for extras, but one final run with two outs gave them the 6-5 win. In the tie-breaker, the Spartans found their offense early in the 7-2 victory.
In the first game on Friday, Emery came up in the bottom of the first down 1-0, and Garrett Conover came up to the plate, sending a grounder to third and reaching on an error as Trygg Jensen would score. Drake Stilson came up in the bottom of the second, singling to left and scoring Ben Johansen from third. Johansen came up again in the third with the Spartans trailing 3-2 and would send a single to left, bringing Peyton Nielson in to tie the game at 3-3.
The Hawks took the lead once again at 4-3, so the Spartans had to go back to work in the fifth as Nielson would bunt and get to first, scoring Beau Stilson, tying things up once again, this time at 4-4.
This game was as competitive as it gets, with lead change after lead change, and once again, the Hawks took the lead at the top of the sixth, putting North Sanpete back on top 5-4. Both teams held each other off the board and headed to the bottom of the seventh.
Conover came up with one out and two on, sending a sacrifice fly to the right to bring in Beau Stilson, tying the game at 5-5. Johansen stepped into the batter’s box and, with two strikes, sent a line drive to center that would bring Nielson in to break the tie and give the Spartans the 6-5 win.
Johansen went 3-4 with a pair of RBIs and scored a run. Nielson was 2-3 with two runs, and Beau Stilson went 1-3, scoring twice in the win.
Jensen got the start on the mound, going six innings and giving up five runs, three earned, on seven hits, and struck out six. Johansen closed out the game with one hit and struck out one.
With the win, Emery would turn around and face the Hawks once again in a tie-breaker game. This game didn’t have the back-and-forth scoring changes as Emery would get on the board in the first inning off a Jensen solo home run.
Both teams went cold over the next couple of innings, and after holding the Hawks scoreless in the top of the fourth, Olsen came up to the plate and would reach first on a dropped third strike, and Jess Larsen scored on an error by the third baseman. The next batter was Beau Stilson, and with one on, he sent a line drive home run shot over the left field wall, putting the Spartans on top 4-0.
Moving to the bottom of the fifth, with Emery holding a 4-1 lead, Olsen came to the plate with two outs and would firs a line drive double to center scoring Drake Stilson and Bodee Norton putting the Spartans up 6-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Nielson sent a sacrifice fly to center to bring Jensen in to score. The Hawks collected a single run in the seventh, but the Spartans would close them out to take the 7-2 win.
Jensen was 2-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI for Emery. Easton Stoker went 2-3, Beau Stilson was 1-4 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored and Olsen was 1-3 with a pair of RBIs and scored a run in the win.
Johansen got the start, going four innings with one earned run on four hits and striking out one. Stoker closed out the game with one earned with two hits and struck out two.
Emery will now advance to bracket play on Monday in Ogden at Lindquist Field, where they will face the No. 2 Grantsville Cowboys at 11:00 a.m.
You can catch all the action live on KOAL 107.3 FM and 750 AM. The Landon’s Diesel Service Pregame show will begin at 10:45. You can follow along with the virtual scoreboard on the YouTube channel, Castle Country Radio- Emery.