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Highland • The Lone Peak baseball team scored six runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning and sophomore reliever Kobe Freeman posted his second straight critical save to help the Knights defeat Pleasant Grove 8-5 Monday evening.

The Vikings tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the fifth with the help of a Lone Peak error.

In the top of the sixth, Lone Peak starter Payton Freeman gave up a leadoff double to Pleasant Grove senior third baseman Ty Lewis, and sophomore shortstop Brock Watkins followed with a blast over the center-field fence.

Freeman struck out the next two batters, but first baseman Staley Hansgen homered to center and pushed the Vikings ahead 5-2.

The Knights started their turn in the bottom half with two quick outs, but then rallied.

Senior right fielder Tyler MacPherson got it started with his second bunt single of the afternoon and reached second on an overthrow. He scored on a hit into the right-center gap by junior catcher Colton Easton.

The next batter walked, and Payton Freeman drove in a run with a double to the left-field fence. Another walk loaded the bases, and second baseman Payton Barney looped a base hit into short right-center to give Lone Peak a 6-5 advantage.

"All I was looking for was to hit a ball hard and do my job," Barney said. "He was pitching me on the outside corner so I just kept my hands in to get good contact."

Barney didn't even know he'd driven in the go-ahead run until after it was all over. "Honestly, I was just focused on the game," he admitted. "See ball, hit ball. That's all I was thinking about."

Junior third baseman Tom Bateman drove in two more runs, and Kobe Freeman got the final two outs in the top of the seventh to wrap up the victory.

Payton Freeman said the home runs worried him a little. "They made some good adjustments," he said. "I was trying to hit the outside corner and they were getting up on the plate more."

He added, "You can't get nervous. We hadn't hit great the whole game either but I had confidence my guys would come through in the clutch, and they did." —

Lone Peak 8, Pleasant Grove 5

R Solid pitching and timely hitting carry Lone Peak over Pleasant Grove in the first of their three-game series.

• The Knights (17-5, 14-2) have a two-game lead in Region 4 and have secured no worse than a tie for the league title.