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AMERICAN FORK — After getting hit by the first pitch of the game, Riverton's Carson Moody looked to his teammates and let out a roar.
They did the same, and what soon followed felt inevitable.
With the help of a 3-run first inning, adding four more in the seventh, and getting a stout pitching performance from starter Cooper Hansen, the Riverton Silverwolves laid down a serious marker with a dominant 8-3 road victory over defending 6A champion American Fork, spoiling the Cavemen's season opener at Rags Field Friday.
Last year, both teams went toe-to-toe in bracket play in Orem, with Riverton forcing a winner-take-all elimination game via a 6-2 win over American Fork before the Cavemen left no doubt with a 13-3 mercy rule win over the Silverwolves the next day, en route to American Fork winning their 3rd state title in four years.
This time, it was the 2022 champion Silverwolves (1-1) who put up crooked numbers in the opening and closing innings, with the defending champion Cavemen (0-1) unable to respond despite having several opportunities with runners on base.
"Whenever Riverton and AF plays, it's going to be a battle," Riverton head coach Jay Applegate said. "Our first game we were kind of up and down, but this is a huge building block for us."
While Applegate said he won't look at the win as a season-defining one — it is only the second game of the year, after all — it certainly meant a lot more to his players.
That especially was true for Moody, who scored on a two-run double by Drake Piersall on just the sixth pitch of the game from Cavemen starter Dax Watts. Moody was nailed by the first pitch of the game by Watts before Zach Edwards took a four-pitch walk.
"We really wanted this one; they beat us last year in the postseason to win the title," Moody said. "It's a big win."
The win was also fueled by a quality start from Riverton left-hander Cooper Hansen. The Salt Lake Community College signee tossed five strong innings, striking out four batters and holding the Cavemen to just two runs on five hits.
"Cooper's been our number one guy for so many years," Applegate said. "Kids know defensively he can put the ball in play for them to get it done."
Where the Silverwolves really got it done was in the seventh inning. Nursing a 4-2 lead, Riverton first baseman Alex Vernon launched a two-run double to straightaway center field that nearly left the ballpark, scoring both Edwards and pinch-runner Talyn Bruse to extend the advantage to 6-2.
Kaden Allred then smoked a line-drive into the right center field gap to score Vernon, before Allred scored himself on a single by Stein Mozingo that ricocheted off the field umpire to make it 8-2.
"Our whole week, we've been stressing the middle innings," Applegate said. "That's where you win and lose games; to see them perform like that is awesome."
Moody, in addition to his day offensively, also performed admirably in relief of Hansen, too. He went the final two innings allowing only two runs, and despite suffering from right leg cramps with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, his next pitch induced the groundout that ended proceedings.
"I really wanted to push through those last few pitches," he said. "I didn't want to go out that way."
Lost in the shuffle, however, was the atmosphere. Both dugouts were charged from the very beginning, and Moody even said it felt like a state tournament game with multiple high-stress situations facing each squad.
Rags Field was the loudest, though, when the Silverwolves scored.
"We really emphasize playing for each other," Applegate said. "If you're there to pick your teammates up, it goes a long way."
And at least for Friday, Riverton certainly looks the part of a team that could make some serious noise in the state — both literally and figuratively.
"The goal is always to have big energy, no matter what," Moody said. "What our dugout did for us is incredible, and it gives us so much energy to keep going."
