Enterprise softball took down region rival Beaver for the third time this season to advance to the 2A state championship game. The No. 4 Wolves’ potent offense proved to be too much for the No. 3 Beavers Friday afternoon as it pummeled its way into the state final with a 14-8 thrashing of its opposition. 

Enterprise’s battle with the Beavers started out rocky — that is until the Wolves exploded for eight runs in the fourth. 

Enterprise gave up two home runs in the first inning, leading to a 1-3 deficit. Beaver starting pitcher Madi Robinson hit a bomb over the left field fence, leaving the Wolves’ outfielders helpless as they watched the ball sail over their heads. A few moments later Star Moon gave the Beavers the lead with a homer of her own, bringing Halle Hutchings in on the two-run shot. 

Moon would do it again in the third when she gave the ball another ride and put the Beavers up 4-2. The next inning would see a complete turnaround from Enterprise. 

Wolves’ head coach Katye Jones said it was “total focus” that brought Enterprise back. “We have three words that we’ve been using: communication, discipline and determination. We use those three words over and over and over again. We just stay focused and do the little things.”

All the little things turned into a huge inning for Enterprise in the fourth. Player after player trotted through home plate, giving the upstarts from southern Utah a shot at a state championship on Saturday. By the end of the inning, the Wolves held a 10-5 lead, a lead that would only increase in the sixth. 

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Enterprise added four more runs to its growing tally in the second to last inning. Frustration mounted for Beaver as its chance to win its first softball state championship melted into a heap and morphed into a tough upward climb tomorrow. 

The Beavers will face another region foe in a streaking Parowan team Saturday at 10 a.m. Parowan, winners of its last four, will be looking to avenge its two losses to Beaver in the regular season. The Rams were dominant against Altamont, putting together a 17-0 beat down on the Longhorns to find their way into a rematch with the Beavers. The winner of that game will face Enterprise in the tournament final. 

When asked who she’d rather play tomorrow, Jones said she had no preference. “We will keep the momentum going from today. Whoever it is, Parowan or Beaver, it will be a good game. We played both those teams twice (in the regular season), so it will be tough,” Jones said. “Both have great pitchers.”

However it ends up, the championship game will pit two Region South teams against each other. That game is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday with a second game to be played at 2:30 p.m. if necessary. 

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