American Fork won’t be sneaking up on anyone in this year’s Class 6A baseball tournament.

The Cavemen won their 11th state title in 2023 but were seeded No. 7 and on a six-game losing streak coming into the tournament.

Of course, anyone playing a Jarod Ingersoll-coached team in May should know better, right?

On Friday American Fork (18-6) was awarded the No. 1 seed in the 6A tournament by finishing at the top of the Utah High School Activities Association’s RPI. Play begins on Saturday with a pair of Regional matchups. The Cavemen have a bye until the Super Regionals against the winner of the Herriman-Weber series.

Without a doubt, American Fork will have a target on its back.

“I think we have a good culture with the kids,” Ingersoll said. “A lot of different kids are gonna be called on to fill different roles and they trust each other. The assistant coaches are so good. I think that it’s that there’s an expectation there to be successful and sometimes that can be too much pressure. We just want the guys to go out and play baseball the AF way and play hard. It’s just a credit to the kids and to the community and just people buying into what we’ve got going on.”

American Fork has appeared in three state championships (2021, 2022, 2023), winning in 2021 and 2023. The Cavemen also claim the unofficial 6A title in 2020 during the pandemic, winning the Last Chance Tournament before all spring sports shut down.

Lehi (16-9) at No. 5 and Skyridge (14-10) at No. 7 also represent Region 3 in the top ten of the RPI. No. 2 Davis (20-5), No. 3 Mountain Ridge (18-6) and No. 4 Riverton (18-7) are among the top contenders.

Brighton (22-3) was awarded the top seed in the 5A tournament but Region 7 will be tough outs with four teams in the top ten: No. 2 Maple Mountain (21-4), No. 4 Springville (18-6), No. 5 Orem (19-6) and No. 6 Salem Hills (16-9).

Maple Mountain relies on a strong pitching staff led by junior left-hander Chase Johnston (4-1, 1.59 ERA) and seniors Blake Carter (4-0, 2.55 ERA), Max Walker (4-0, 3.00 ERA) and Jake Roscher (4-0, 0.97 ERA). Springville’s Junior Lauaki and Easton Barrett are two of the best in the state both at the plate and on the mound. Orem has a powerful offense, led by Easton Davies with 44 RBI, second in the state. Salem Hills split two games with both Maple Mountain and Springville to finish the regular season.

Regional matchups (best of 3) begin Saturday with No. 23 Wasatch (6-19) at No. 10 Woods Cross (15-10), No. 22 Bonneville (9-15) at No. 11 Spanish Fork (12-13) and No. 19 Cedar Valley (9-16) at No. 14 Box Elder (13-12).

Super Regionals get underway on May 16.

Newsletter