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Orem • Spanish Fork is not the type of team that succeeds on long periods of down time. The Dons are meticulous, using small ball to strengthen their advantage.

Replicating practice while relegated to the school gymnasium is difficult, and it showed in Tuesday's Class 4A quarterfinal matchup against Mountain Crest in the early innings.

"We haven't been able to practice very much because of the weather. We haven't been on the field," said Spanish Fork coach Casey Nelson, whose team committed four errors in the first two innings. "I'm not going to blame it on jitters. These guys know what they need to do."

Turns out the weather has hampered Mountain Crest as much or more. After waiting two and a half hours from a rain delay, Spanish Fork raced to a 16-6 victory in five innings to continue its journey through the winners' bracket.

"We've been here since, shoot, 3:45. I just looked at my watch, and I'm like, 'Holy crap. It's 9:45 right now,'" Nelson said. "It was kind of a marathon, but it's the state tournament. We're ready to go. It doesn't matter how long — it's the best time to be at the park right now."

The Dons (13-12), whose overall record is deceiving considering the quality of opponents it scheduled in the preseason — which, now, is paying dividends — dominated two-out scenarios all evening, scoring 10 runs with two down.

After flirting with but ultimately squandering a potentially lucrative two-out rally in the first inning, Spanish Fork cashed its fortunes in the second on Devin Argyle's full-count, two-run RBI single.

The Mustangs evened it up off consecutive Spanish Fork errors in the bottom half of the second, pushing the Dons' blunder count to four in only two innings of work. But SF quickly regained control on McKennon Jarvis' two-run homer in the third.

Mountain Crest's inability to secure the final out proved disastrous once more in the fourth inning. Jarvis started the bleeding with a two-run single, pushing the cushion to four. Then four straight walks, a hit batter, a passed ball, and Devin Argyle's two-run single pushed the advantage into mercy-rule territory, at 12-2.

Austin Jones and Tanner Leishman moved Mountain Crest out of mercy-rule territory by collectively driving in three runs in the fourth, but Spanish Fork immediately countered with a four-run fifth inning to end action early.

Twitter: @trevorphibbs —

Spanish Fork 16, Mountain Crest 6 (5)

• Spanish overcomes five errors with nine hits, including a two-run home run by McKennon Jarvis

• Tanner Nelson struck out seven batters in five innings to earn the win

• The Dons scored 10 runs with two outs