By Josh McFadden | [email protected]

It’s a good thing high school baseball uses the double-elimination format or the Olympus Titans would have bowed out much earlier than expected.

The Titans breezed through Region 6 play, going 15-0 and winning seven games by at least 10 runs. So when Olympus hosted Bountiful, the fourth-place team from Region 5, in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament on May 15, it would have been easy to figure the Titans would roll.

Instead, Bountiful shocked Olympus 6-2, giving the team its first defeat since way back on March 16.

Olympus had the chance to bounce back and get back on track, and it did so in a big way.

The Titans reeled off six straight wins in the tournament, including two on May 22. Actually, the Titans were in danger of losing its second game of the tournament the day after their loss to Bountiful. Olympus slipped by Corner Canyon 7-5 despite committing four errors and allowing nine hits. But Olympus posted back-to-back blowouts — 13-0 over Region 6 rival Skyline on May 19 and 8-1 over Murray on May 21 — and then picked up a pair of close wins over Timpanogos (5-2) and Cottonwood (7-3), both on May 22.

On May 23, the Titans advanced to the state title by defeating Skyridge 5-2. Olympus picked up four of its runs in the first two innings and got a great effort from Ben Delis. The senior pitcher struck out five batters and was on the mound the entire game. AJ Affleck also hit a home run for Olympus, while teammate Ryder Vance hit a double.

Three months after the Titans’ boys basketball team captured a state title, the baseball team couldn’t quite duplicate the feat. On May 25, the Titans faced Jordan for 5A’s top prize. Unfortunately for Olympus, the first inning was a disaster, and it couldn’t recover. Jordan racked up eight runs in the opening inning, and Olympus never threatened. By the bottom of the fifth inning, Jordan was up 11-1, and the game was called. Affleck once again hit a home run, but Olympus collected just three hits on the day and couldn’t dig itself out of the early hole.

The Titans compiled a 29-4 record this season. Next season Olympus will bring back 11 underclassmen from this year’s team. 

Skyline

The Eagles qualified for the state tournament as Region 6’s No. 3 seed, having posted an 8-7 record in league play.

Skyline ended the regular season with a four-game winning streak and continued its hot streak with a 11-5 win over Box Elder in the first round of the playoffs. The Eagles got off to a great start, scoring three runs in the first and second innings, but had to hold off a Box Elder rally. The Bees tallied four runs in the third and one more in the fourth. But Skyline tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to clinch the victory. The Eagles amassed 15 hits in the victory and got a home run and a double from senior Dakota Porter.

The Eagles dropped their next two tournament games, ending their season. Cottonwood defeated Skyline 6-3 on May 16. The Eagles then suffered the one-sided loss to Olympus on May 19.

Skyline finished the season with an overall record of 12-16. Next season, the team will welcome back 15 players from this year’s varsity roster.