High school baseball: Timpanogos holds off Lehi in Game 1 of 5A championship series

Timpanogos is on the verge of winning its first state title since 2017 after its 5-2 victory over Lehi in the first game of the 5A championship series.

It wasn’t a flashy win for the Timberwolves, but consistent, clean play pushed them over the top in Friday’s game.

The win wasn’t without its pushback, as Lehi struck first with a run in the first inning. However, solid pitching and fielding from Timpanogos denied Lehi from getting any significant separation.

Then in the bottom of the third, with two teammates on base, University of Utah commit Billy Bird hit a triple for a 2-1 Timpanogos lead.

“I just think we have such a good brotherhood. Everyone on this team is amazing, and playing with them makes me want to play better,” said Bird.

“When someone is down everyone is there to back you up. It’s nice not feeling alone. I know that this is an alone sport, where you feel like it’s just up to you at the plate, but we got everyone. If you have a bad game someone is going to pick you up so having that confidence is nice.”

Timpanogos scored two more runs in the fourth inning as Tate MacGillivary and Luke Livingston each recorded an RBI.

The Timberwolves were getting contributions throughout their roster, and Timpanogos head coach Kim Nelson knows how important that is in the state tournament.

“If we go back through the last 10 days, it’s a lot of baseball and it hasn’t been one or two guys to get us wins. It’s been three or four guys one game, and three or four others another. There’s a lot of contributions that have made the difference,” said Nelson.

“We’re facing a good pitcher, we haven’t beat him in two years in league play. I was just really proud of the way the kids swung the bats in those last four innings.”

With the contributions, Timpanogos held a 5-1 lead, but Lehi’s Jackson Brousseau started the sixth inning with a home run.

The home run gave Timpanogos flashbacks to the 6A game immediately before, where Skyridge had a six-run explosion for a late-game comeback win against American Fork.

The Timberwolves collected themselves and followed the home run with a double play, stopping all the Pioneers’ momentum.

“It was big,” said Bird. “it was a momentum shifter and momentum is huge so getting that double play helped a lot.

“It kind of killed their energy and we like that.”

The double play all but sealed the game for Timpanogos, stopping Lehi in its tracks and the Pioneers didn’t have enough time left to string runs together.