Mortensen This Week’s Athlete Of The Week (5/13)
Until last week, Madison baseball player Mack Mortensen only had one home run on the season, but when it mattered most, the junior found his groove, and that’s why he’s our Summit Orthopaedics Athlete of the Week.
They say the best players step up on the biggest stage. Mack Mortensen’s 3-game stretch in the 5A district tournament last week is living proof.
On Thursday, he rallied the Bobcats over Highland with a walkoff 3-run blast to give Madison a dramatic extra-inning 14-12 win over the Rams.
“Kinda amazing to be down like that in the 7th and to come back,” says Mortensen.
“I thought wow, I’ve never been on a team with a winning home run,” says his teammate Rhet Rasmusen. “So, it was pretty sweet.”
He added a double in Friday’s tough loss to Twin Falls. Then on Saturday, in a winner-goes-to-state battle with Idaho Falls, and his team in a four-nothing hole, he provided a much needed spark with a monstrous 4th inning 2-run bomb to left.
“As soon as I hit it, I thought this is it,” says Mack. “It will get us a start in the game, get us going good.”
Mack would later score the tying run in the bottom of the 7th, before the very next batter drove in the winning run for the Cats.
“Hitting two home runs in the same week, for a high school kid is pretty good,” says Mortensen.
Mack’s quite the all-around athlete. He’s an all-state corner for the football team, and a very solid student, who carries a 3.3 GPA. This shortstop though, might be best known for always keeping the team loose.
“I think it’s better that way, to not be so tensed up, and freaking out,” says a smiling Mortensen. “I just like to have lots of fun and joke around.”
“Mack keeps us laughing all the time,” says coach Randy Lords. “You know, he gets focused when he needs to be, so yeah, he’s a good guy to have as a team leader, somebody that guys look up to.”
