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Show Thursday, May 1, 2008 AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Page 7 prep COMMUNITY SPORTS, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Prep spring sports Beky Beaton NORTH COUNTY It's crunch time. With three Region 4 games left in baseball and soccer and just two for softball, the race for playoff spots couldn't get much hotter, though last week's contests did clarify the picture to some degree. In baseball, once top-ranked Spanish Fork is undefeated no more after losing twice, shockingly to a Viking team previously winless in the league, and then at home against surging Lone Peak. American Fork upset Timpanogos on the road as well on Tuesday, so the Knights are alone in first place, for the moment, but the TRACK AND FIELD n n a American Fork's Ben Felix is among the top contenders in Utah boys high school track in the long Area high school track teams hoping for best as Beky Beaton NORTH COUNTY With the three biggest meets of the year approaching, approach-ing, area track teams are settling into their final lineups as all of them prepare to put their best athletes forward in the hopes of winning individual indi-vidual and team region and state titles. This weekend's BYU Invitational Invi-tational is an all-classification mega-meet which will test the mettle of every participant. It's also one of the final oppor-tunties oppor-tunties for athletes to qualify Mooneys Neil K. Warner NORTH COUNTY In what could be called American Fork's biggest game of the season, pitcher Josh Mooney walked three, gave up three hits and surrendered sur-rendered five runs in the first inning. But Timpanogos found out that unless paralysis is involved, in-volved, Mooney wasn't going anywhere. American Fork's Mooney man wouldn't budge. I le proved to be tougher to get rid of than the red infield dirt on a white uniform. forward: Dons and Timberwolves are just one game back. The Cavemen will be hard-pressed hard-pressed to catch the leaders, though they have a more favorable schedule the rest of the way. However, Pleasant Grove is now right on their heels and could overtake them for the final berth if they falter. Spanish Fork remains untouched un-touched in softball and Lehi is solidly in second place. Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove is still improving and has achieved some separation sepa-ration in the third spot but for state-level competition .at the venue where the finals will be held. The league meet is set for May 7 and 8 at American Fork, followed by the 5A state championships on May 16 and 17 at BYU. The Spanish Fork girls are the prohibitive favorites to win a Region 4 crown and are also in the best position to challenge for an overall team title at the state meet. The league race for the boys is much closer, with Spanish Fork and Timpanogos having the inside pitching helps Cavemen top Timpanogos rewind Mooney survived the first inning and gave up just two hits in the final six innings to help American Fork beat Timpanogos 9-6 on Tuesday afternoon. "Josh is a tough kid. I can't say enough about him and what he means to the program," pro-gram," said American Fork coach Jarod Ingersoll. "This was his game to win or lose. We were going to live or die season entering key stretch closes out the season against the Dons and Pioneers. The fourth spot is still up for grabs and probably will not be decided until after the final contests on Tuesday. It's quite possible that a play-in scenario may be required as a tiebreaker. In boys soccer, the Pioneers were impressive against the Timberwolves on Tuesday and could all but assure themselves them-selves of the region title with a win at Lone Peak today. However, the Knights have other plans. They haven't lost since Lehi's 1-0 victory in their first meeting. Whichever team wins this contest is going go-ing to have to earn it. Timpanogos is now two games behind Lone Peak, track for the moment. A Utah County team would be considered con-sidered a long shot to win a state title. However, local squads have plenty of quality competitors in both divisions who could win individual state crowns or earn medals at the 5A meet. Here's a look at some of the top contenders for state honors from the north Utah County teams. Boys I Donovan Guerrero (Pleasant (Pleas-ant Grove): He's ranked No. 5 by him today." While Mooney went the distance for American Fork, Timpanogos used four different dif-ferent pitchers and the same pitcher twice, but the combined com-bined efforts still couldn't put the brakes on the Caveman comeback. The Cavemen scored what proved to be the winning run in the sixth inning on a hit batter bat-ter and a wild pitch. With the game tied at sixth, Nate Pitcher singled with one out. After Timpanogos reliever Taylor Lyons got Jake Murphy to ground out, Mooney drew an intentional ,y i J I -'i s ' - and Pleasant Grove is just a half -game below that, so Tuesday's Tues-day's contest between them could have a big impact on the final standings. Here's a look at some of the key contests coming up in the next week. Records are as of April 29. Thursday, May 1 BASEBALL I Timpanogos at American Fork (4 p.m.): The Timberwolves Timber-wolves (5-2, 16-3) need the split to stay in the running for the region title, while the Cavemen (3-4. 1 1-8) will want to keep moving up. Both teams threw their aces on Tuesday, so this game could come down to which distance events. '08 season reaches its climax in 5A in the 200m and is also No. 2 in Region 4, just behind Parker Brown of Timpanogos and just ahead of Chris Norris of Spanish Fork. This will be an event to keep an eye on. Guerrero is also qualified for State in the 100m dash and is on the rankings list but his time trails leader Taylor Carling of Davis by a full half-second. half-second. Carling is also tops in 5A in the 200m but does not enjoy as much of a margin in the standings. I Steven Morrin (Lone Peak): He's ranked No. 4 in 5A in the 3200m and is the favorite to walk and Andy Lewis followed with a traditional walk to load the bases. Timpanogos made a pitching pitch-ing change and called on Devin Olson, but he hit Scott LeFrandt to force in a run and another came across on a wild pitch. Murphy doubled in a run in the seventh to put the game out of reach and scored a big win for American Fork, which improved to 3-5 in region play. Timpanogos dropped to 6-2 and is now a game behind Lone Peak. It looked like Timpanogos would chase Mooney from No. 2 does a better job containing con-taining the opposing hitters. t Lehi at Pleasant Grove (4 p.m.): The Pioneers (0-7, 5-12) have to win this one to have any shot at the playoffs, while the newly -hopeful Vikings (2-5, (2-5, 1 1-7) need another victory to strengthen their shot at a tournament berth. I Spanish Fork at Lone Peak (4 p.m.): The Knights (6-1, 13-4) 13-4) won on the road. The Dons (5-2, 15-4) will be anxious to return the favor, but a victory by the home team will put Lone Peak in the driver's seat for the title chase. BOYS SOCCER I Lehi at Lone Peak (4 p.m.): Just a half-game separates the See FORWARD, Page 8 V FILENorth County win the Region 4 title in this event. I le's unlikely to catch 5A state leader George Barlow Bar-low of Weber but has a good shot to medal. I Ben Felix (American Fork): He's about a second shy of the state qualifying mark in the 1600m, but he's the Region Re-gion 4 favorite and will likely advance in that way in this event. Felix is also among the region leaders in the 3200m. I Scott Matheson (Pleasant Grove): He holds the top spot in Region 4 in the high jump See TRACK, Page 8 the mound in the first inning. Lyons led off with a walk and Jordan Cooper was hit by a pitch. The runners moved up a base on a Bret Lopei ground-out. ground-out. Jordan Mehlhoff was then intentionally walked. Mitch Foster and Rhett Nelson both singled in runs to give Timpanogos a 2-0 lead. Christian Stewart delivered the big blow of the inning, a three-run triple down the right field line. But the Timpanogos pitching pitch-ing staff had serious control problems. The staff combined See REWIND, Page 9 Lainie ' Thompson American Fork High School Parents: Scott and Michelle Thompson Year: Senior Age: 17 Sport: Softball Position: Left fielder Birthplace: Provo Favorite sports teams: BYU Cougars and Arizona Wildcats Favorite food: Mexican food Favorite restaurant: Los Hermanos Favorite movies: Miss Congeniality and A League of Their Own Favorite book: The Secret Hero: Jessica Mendoza Favorite class: Choir Future plans: To play college softball. Most memorable career moment: Going for foul balls in games this year. Coach Duke Sorensen said: "She is one of those ones who is extremely hard-working. She goes hard all the time. She always brings the team up when they're down and gives us a huge boost with her attitude and the way she looks at things. She's been hitting well lately and has always been a good fielder. She stands out to the younger girls by setting a good example." SCOREBOARD Results Baseball Data Retutt Opponent 424 lost 9-12 lone Peak 429 Won 9-6 Timpanojoe Softball Dale ReuM Opponent 424 Ual 3-7 dessert Grove 429 Lost 0-13 SosnisnForK Boys soccer Date Result Opponent 424 Lost 0-2 LeW 4729 lost 1-4 Pleasant Grove Upcoming games Baseball Oate Opponent Time 501 Timpanogoj 4 p.m. 505 O LeW 4 p.m. 507 Letii 4 p.m. Softball Oate Opponent Time 501 Timpanogos 330 p m. 506 Lone Peak 3:30 p.m. 5713 Playoffs begin Boys soccer Oate Opponent Time 501 O Timpangos 4 p.m. 506 Lone Peak 4 p.m. 508 Spanisn Fork 4 p.m. Track Date Opponent Time 503 BYU Invitational TBA 57-8 Region 4 meat O LP TBA Standings Repotted games througtT429 Baseball REGION 4 School Region record Overall record Lone Peak 6-1 13-4 Timpanogos 5-2 16-3 Spanish Fork . 5-2 15-4 American fork 3-4 11-8 Pleasant Grave 2-5 11-7 Leni 0-7 5-12 REGION 7 School Region record Overs record Mountain View 8-2 13-7 Springville 7-2 13-8 Orem 7-2 12-7 Provo 5-5 11-9 Tooele 3-6 10-9 Payson 3-6 8-11 Timpview 0-10 3-13 Softball REGION 4 School Region record Overall record Spanish Fork 6-0 19-0 Lehi 6-2 13-5 Pleasant Grove 4-4 8-9 Timpanogos 2-5 10-7 Lone Peak 2-6 6-12 American Fork 1-6 (-10 REGION 7 School Region record Overall record TooeH 9-0 14-2 Springville 8-1 13-5 Timpview 5-5 9-1 1 Mountain View 4-6 5-12 Payson 3-5 10-8 Orem 2-6 3-15 Provo 2-7 6-12 Boys soccer REGION 4 . School Region record Overs record Lew 5-0-1 9-1-2 Lone Peak 6-1-0 6-5-2 Timpanogos 4-3-0 5-8-0 Pleasant Grove 3-3-1 8-4-1 American Fork 1-8-0 2-10-0 Spanisn Fork 0-6-0 0-11-1 REGION 7 School Region record Overall record Springville 8-2-0 11-2-0 Mountain View 6-1-2 8-2-3 Orem 6-2-1 9-2-1 Provo 5-4-0 7-5-0 Timpview 5-4-1 9-4-1 Payson . 1-8-1 1-9-1 Tooela 0-9-1 0-9-1 SPEAK UP LETMSTOTHE |