The Taylorsville pitcher held the mighty Timberwolves scoreless in the final two innings at Brigham Young's Miller Field, allowing the Warriors to take a 6-5 win in the Class 5-A state baseball tournament elimination game.
"I was just having a good time," said Curtis, a senior right-hander. "I live for that. I've been waiting my whole life for an experience like that."
It was Taylorsville's second win on Wednesday; coach Guy Mackay's club eliminated Riverton 14-12 in an earlier game. Now, the Warriors will sit back and watch today's championship bracket final between Jordan and Fremont (4:30 p.m.). The Warriors will take on the loser at 7 for the right to advance to Friday's championship round.
"We're going to win this thing," said Curtis, who hit a run-scoring triple in the fourth inning before relieving J.J. Santistevan in the sixth. "We got lots of pitching left, and we never die."
Timpanogos, which beat Taylorsville last week in the second round, was eliminated after losing another one-run game. It fell 7-6 to Fremont late Tuesday night.
Curtis struck out the side in the sixth, but in the seventh, Rhett Nelson led off with a single and was moved to third on sacrifices by Jordy DeLisel and Jordan Sperry.
After Nash Fowler walked, Curtis got Jordan Cooper to look at strike three and end the game.
Jeff Pratt drove in a pair of runs for Taylorsville with a double and a triple. He scored what turned out to be the winning run in the fifth inning after doubling. Timpanogos shortstop Bret Lopez, who had a marvelous game at the plate with two singles and an RBI triple, committed an error on a ground ball hit by Austin Maddy that enabled Pratt to score from second base.
Other games
Taylorsville 14, Riverton 12: Taylorsville stayed alive at the 5-A baseball tournament by pounding out 18 hits in a slugfest with Riverton, which had 16 hits. Austin Padilla drove in three runs for Taylorsville, while Jeff Pratt, David Millet, Austin Maddy and Tyler Curtis drove in two runs apiece.
Weston Ellis had four RBIs for Riverton.
Timpanogos 10, Viewmont 6: Despite four errors, the Timberwolves eliminated the Vikings, as Gentry Croft struck out eight in four innings of relief work for Timpanogos.
Class 5-A baseball
Today at BYU's Miller Field
Championship Bracket
Jordan vs. Fremont, 4:30 p.m.
Losers Bracket
Taylorsville vs. Jordan-Fremont loser, 7 p.m.
Taylorsville 6, Timpanogos 5
* The Warriors advance to the semifinal round of the 5-A tournament with a pair of close wins Wednesday.
* Tyler Curtis holds Timpanogos scoreless in the final two innings Wednesday night to eliminate the Timberwolves.
* Taylorsville meets the loser of today's Jordan-Fremont game at 7 p.m.
