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Highland • Lone Peak players departed from the locker room with as much energy as when they entered.

One player muttered an expletive under his breath, still in disbelief of what unfolded moments prior. The Knights had choked a three-run lead with three outs to go against undefeated Pleasant Grove.

Yet, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Lone Peak had another opportunity, if it could get to the top of the order. Trent Whitaker, the nine-hole hitter, was 1 for 3 with two strikeouts. He needed to get on base.

He took all four instead.

Whitaker rocked a solo home run — a low screamer over the left field fence — to amend the late-game collapse and knock off the nationally ranked Vikings, 5-4.

"I was going up there looking for a good pitch to hit, trying to put something in play. ... I didn't even see it go out," said Whitaker, still bouncing with zest. "That's an unbelievable feeling. That's one of the most fun moments of my whole life."

Pleasant Grove (15-1) entered the game ranked No. 6 nationally by USA Today, but was held nearly six runs lower than its season average by Lone Peak (12-4) ace RJ Hazen (4-0), whose offspeed-fastball combo enticed the Vikings into swinging at pitches skipping in the dirt.

"The name of the game is trying to get ahead of guys," said Hazen, who finished with 10 strikeouts in 72⁄3 innings of work. "I felt like I kept the ball low."

Matt Lee earned the win in relief, but not before Pleasant Grove rallied. After Chase Merrell drew an opening at-bat walk in the top half of the seventh, Zach Peterson and Logan Hooley followed with consecutive doubles to pull within one. Hayden Veenker's sacrifice to left evened the score two batters later.

"The one thing we've been preaching to our boys is: We've got to come ready to battle every single inning," Lone Peak coach Matt Bezzant said. "What [PG] did in that seventh inning is something they've been able to do all year."

Tyler Thompson put the Knights up 2-0 in the second inning with a bases-loaded single off BYU signee Easton Walker (4-0), who struggled with his control early, ultimately scattering seven hits with seven strikeouts and five walks.

After the Vikings stole one back on Bub Wilde's sacrifice, Lone Peak extended its lead to 4-1 on two straight singles by Chandler Goeckeritz and Tate Hansen in the fourth inning.

The Knights are now within one game of Pleasant Grove in the Region 4 standings, with the second game of the series switching venues on Wednesday before ending back at Lone Peak on Friday.

Unfortunately the short turnaround doesn't provide much time for celebration, especially for Whitaker.

"I'm going to go home and do some homework. I've got a project due," Whitaker said. "Take some swings and get ready to do it again."

But he's not complaining.

Twitter: @trevorphibbs —

Lone Peak 5, Pleasant Grove 4

• Lone Peak's Trent Whitaker hits a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

• The Knights' RJ Hazen pitches 72⁄3 innings and finishes with 10 strikeouts.

• Tyler Thompson goes 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs in the win.