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Orem • Manti pitcher Kyle Robison had pitched a gem of a game. But, three outs removed from leading his club to the Class 2A semifinals, his masterful performance began losing its luster.

With Robison's go-to pitch deteriorating, he surrendered three consecutive hits to open the final inning, as Delta trimmed its three-run deficit to one with the tying runner on third.

"[My] curveball was working really well all day, and then seventh inning … my curveball lost it," Robison explained. "I don't know what it was. I went to my fastball at the end."

Robison promptly flamed three straight fastballs for a much-needed strikeout before sending the Templars to the winner's bracket semifinals with a game-clinching pop-up to seal the 3-2 victory at Brent Brown Ballpark on Thursday morning.

"It's huge right now. It keeps the two, three and four pitchers fresh for tomorrow," Manti coach Jim Nelson said of Robison not needing assistance to wrap up the seventh inning. "Anything can happen now, and we can drop back into that other bracket and need everybody. It's really important."

Robison finished with 10 strikeouts, while scattering six hits without any walks. Through five complete innings, it was a pitching battle, as Delta's Tyler Young, who fanned seven batters in seven innings, kept the Templars' bats in check.

Wes Wright finally ended the stalemate with a run-scoring triple one pitch after a would-be homer sailed slightly into foul territory. Two batters later, Kelton Pritchard extended the lead to 2-0 with a one-out single.

"We kind of changed our approach," Nelson said of the later innings, including the seventh, which saw Robison increase the advantage to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly.

The Templars will try to keep their advantage in the winner's bracket on Friday against Enterprise at Utah Valley at 2:30 p.m.

"We're feeling really good right now," Robison said. "We feel like we're on top of the world. We feel like we can beat anyone."

Twitter: @trevorphibbs —

Manti 3, Delta 2

• Kyle Robison pitches the distance, striking out 10 and surrendering six hits for Manti.

• Wes Wright, Robison and Kelton Pritchard each registered a RBI in the win.

• Tyler Young struck out seven batters in seven innings of work for the Rabbits.