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Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Knowing that Mountain Ridge was coming out of the consolation game, Skyridge head coach Ryan Roberts “challenged his team” to get an early lead against the Sentinels on Wednesday.
The Falcons rose to that challenge and pressured Mountain Ridge in ways that didn’t always show up cleanly in the scorebook, turning walks, stolen bases and rushed defensive plays into a 13-6 victory.
“To get those three in the first inning is huge, and then our bats came alive and we got on some balls pretty good,” Roberts said. “We have some good team speed and some guys that can put some pressure on.”
That pressure started immediately with Miles Robinson, who worked a leadoff walk in the first inning before wreaking havoc on the bases.
His speed forced Mountain Ridge into hurried throws that allowed two runs to come across. Moments later, Zayden Bye delivered the first big swing of the afternoon, driving a triple into the right-center gap for his first of five RBIs for the game.
“Zayden has had kind of an up and down year, but he’s just been a positive, happy kid,” Roberts said. “When he’s had opportunities, he’s tried his best. When he didn’t have opportunities, he was still a great teammate.
“He just gets in there and he’ll fight and scrap.”
Still, Mountain Ridge refused to disappear quietly. Ryker Morton gave his team life in the third inning with a two-run home run to left that cut into the deficit and injected some energy into the dugout.
Mountain Ridge seemed to be capitalizing on the momentum when it loaded the bases in the fourth inning, but Roberts turned to senior Tate Young on the mound, and Young allowed just one run over the final three innings.
“Tate is an amazing kid, because he didn’t even play baseball when he was a freshman.” Roberts said, “He’s got a hard cutter, which is hard for the lefties to face.
“Their lefty hitters are the best guys in their lineup I think, and he came in and neutralized those guys.”
The Falcons tacked on insurance runs late, with contributions coming throughout the lineup en route to a berth in the 6A championship series this weekend.
It will be their first appearance in the series since 2023.