Manti Pony League team that took third place at state: Back row: Coach Mike Cox, Jeremy Anderson, Anthony Hansen, Kenneth Peterson, Bridger Lyon, Colton Miller, Taylor Spoer Coach Burke Lyon, Front row: Austin Jackson, Trevor Nielson, Bailey Bown, Jamen Miller, Hunter Miller, Colin Haymond, JJ Timmons. Not pictured: Dillon Simons, Garrett Ruell.

MANTI—A group of 13 and 14-year-old Manti boys proved that they were every bit the match for select teams “up north” when they took third place in the state Pony League baseball tournament.

Their coach, Burke Lyon, describes he team as “just an unbelievable group of really talented kids.”

Lyon says going back to the beginning of the season he thought the team had a lot of potential. A few weeks ago, they took first in the Ephraim Lions Club tournament.

The Manti team, and a team from Ephraim that took second in the Lions Club competition, were among 16 teams invited to the state tournament, which was sponsored by the Utah Boys Baseball Association and played in Spanish Fork.

“I told them, ‘You’re going up against the best of the best,’” Lyon said.

In Manti, any boy the right age can play on the team. Some of the teams in the tournament hold tryouts to select their members.

After a few games, the Manti boys started to realize, “We can compete with these teams…,” Gordon says.

All teams in the tournament played three preliminary games. Teams that won two out of three were seeded in the single-elimination tournament. The Ephraim team was eliminated in the preliminary round, but Manti advanced to the finals.

In the finals, Manti won its first game against a Salem team, but lost its second game against a team from Payson. The Payson team went on to take second. Manti then played a Santaquin team for third place and won, 9-4.