High school baseball: No. 1 Lone Peak tops No. 2 Alta

SANDY — There were four extra-base hits in the top of the first, a coach was ejected, one of the state's best players committed two costly errors and the game was played with dust swirling around the diamond.

It was a strange day of baseball at Alta High. And Lone Peak, the state's top-ranked team, overcame the odd circumstances to defeat the Hawks, 11-6, on Tuesday afternoon. The Knights improved to 4-0 in Region 4 and 8-0 overall. Alta, ranked No. 2 in 5A, fell to 2-2 and 7-2.

"A lot of weird things happened in that game," said Lone Peak coach Mike LaHargoue. "It's baseball. Every game in our region is going to be tough, so we're just glad to get out of here with a win."

The game started normally enough — minus the swirling winds that caused dirt to hover around the playing field throughout the game — with Lone Peak's offense picking up where it left off when it beat Alta 19-8 on Friday. Ryan Savage hit a two-run double, Kennedy Kinkade slapped an RBI double and Keyan Norman blasted a two-run homer to give the Knights a quick 5-0 lead.

From there, the Region 4 showdown didn't stay routine. Savage separated his shoulder while making a diving catch in centerfield in the bottom of the first and didn't return to the game. The Knights were a strike away from getting out of the first with no damage, but Alta's Bobby Pappin and Ryan Relf drove in runs to make it 5-3.

"We jumped out and our first five hitters really set the tone," LaHargoue said. "I was kind of disappointed that we didn't keep going with that momentum."

Alta closed to 5-4 in the third before a controversial play changed the game's complexion. Pappin, who was on second after hitting a double, attempted to tag up after Relf flew out to right. He reached third safely, but the base umpire ruled he didn't tag up properly and the Knights got him out at second.

Hawks coach Barry Harrington vehemently argued the call until he was ejected.

The play was a turning point. Instead of Alta having the game-tying base runner in scoring position, Lone Peak got out of the inning and was never really threatened again in the game.

The Hawks uncharacteristically committed five errors that led to five Lone Peak runs. Even more stunning was that two of the errors were credited to star shortstop Kavin Keyes, and they led to three of Lone Peak's runs. One dropped pop-up scored two for the Knights and gave them an 8-4 lead.