High school baseball: American Fork strengthens its lead atop Region 3 with dominant win over Pleasant Grove
Heading into this week, American Fork knew it had a tall task with back-to-back-to-back matchups against Region 3 rival Pleasant Grove, as the Vikings were fresh off three straight wins over Westlake and took the early lead in Region 3.
American Fork took back the top spot in the region in the first two games of its three-game series with close 1-0 and 5-2 road wins, and then the Cavemen secured the series sweep in a dominant 10-0 home win on Friday.
“They came out and got after it,” said American Fork head coach Jared Ingersoll. “Our bats have been a little bit inconsistent offensively and today they came out and hit a lot of balls hard. Credit to them. I’m super proud of their effort and the way they came and locked in today.”
The Cavemen defense also came ready to play, which was led by junior CJ Mascaro on the mound.
After opening the game with a walk, American Fork set the tone with a quick double play on the next play to set the defensive tone for the game. Although Mascaro wasn’t racking up strikeouts, he made life as hard as possible on the Pleasant Grove batters.
“CJ did an outstanding job, I can’t say enough about his effort. Changed speeds, located well and did a great job for us,” said Ingersoll. “The defense also backed him up and that’s what it’s about.”
Mascaro pitched all five innings and never allowed a Pleasant Grove run.
“It feels amazing playing against our rivals all week and it felt amazing to go beat them,” he said. “I just tried to throw strikes. I trusted the guys behind me and knew they’d make the plays for me. Our defense is amazing. We work on it all the time and I fully trust them when I’m on the mound.”
Offensively, American Fork broke the game open in the second inning with six runs. The Cavemen had five different players record RBIs in the inning and were led by Cache Poulson, who hit a perfect 1.000 on the day with a double and two RBIs.
“I think we were just feeling it today,” said Poulson. “We were just swinging well and everything was put together by the defense and we had great pitching today.
“I think since the start of the season we’ve come together as a team. We’ve had some tough games but I think the bats are starting to come alive and we are starting to grow as a team.”
American Fork’s offense didn’t stay as hot as it did in the second inning, but it still consistently got runs in throughout the remainder of the game while the defense held Pleasant Grove off.
The Cavemen pushed the game to a 10-0 lead in the fifth inning, ending the contest and securing the 3-0 series sweep over Pleasant Grove.
“I think our mindset was really good today,” said Ingersoll. “The kids came ready to play, and when they do that we have a pretty good chance. Pleasant Grove is as good of a team as there is and I’m so proud of our effort and how they came out and got after it today.”
The win puts American Fork solidly on top of Region 3 with a 5-1 region record. The Cavemen will have their next three-game region series against Skyridge next week.
