A.F. downs Payson in error-filled game

PAYSON — It was tough to decide at the cold windy diamond in Payson whether the crowd was watching baseball or an episode of "Bloopers, Bleeps and Blunders."

Eventually, the American Fork Cavemen took control of the error-filled contest and finished the Lions off in the seventh with a 12-9 victory, tying the teams for third place in Region 6 with 4-5 marks.

But the sideshow almost overwhelmed the game as two fans nearly got into a fist fight, the crowd verbally sparred with the officials, and a player was thrown out for swearing at the umpire.

American Fork drew first blood as it scored two in the top of the first inning, which started with a standup triple off the first pitch to deep right field by T.J. Spencer. Spencer finished the game with two runs, two hits and two RBIs to lead the Cavemen.

But the lead was short-lived as Payson retaliated in the second with seven runs on four hits, three errors and two walks. They added a couple more in the third on two hits and two more American Fork errors.

"When you get up that much that early, it's hard to keep your composure. We felt like we had it in the bag," said Payson coach Scott Haney.

But the bag had a leak, and the Lions allowed the Cavemen to come back in the fourth inning with five of their own runs on four hits and an error.

After Taylor Mangum replaced starting pitcher Hunter Boone on the mound, the Cavemen didn't give up another run. But they did score a few of their own.

"We did the same thing they did in the second. We gave up the same type of inning to them, and we didn't keep our composure," said Haney, who's hoping to take out Spanish Fork to hold onto the tie for third.

"It was a tale of two teams," said American Fork coach Jared Ingersoll. "We were as bad as we could look and then as good as we could look."

He was especially pleased with the play of Gentry Bean and Kyle Rassmussen, who replaced Boone and Josh Jones in the lineup. Jones was thrown out for swearing in the top of the fourth, which seemed to jump-start American Fork's big inning.

The Cavemen tied it at nine on two more runs in the fifth and took the lead for good with three in the top of the seventh.

"I think I lost five years of my life with that one," Ingersoll said about the up-and-down effort his team put together. "This was a huge battle for third. Now we have to take care of business next week."

In addition to his effort out of the bullpen, Mangum ripped a double, racked up an RBI and scored twice. Shay Conder, Tyson Davis and Steve Parker also put together good offensive showings.

Justin Jensen, Brad Smith, Tony Davis and Tyler Newbold had impressive offensive numbers for the Lions, but the defense just couldn't hold it together down the stretch. Together, the two teams fumbled into ten errors and stranded 12 runners on base.