Riverton and Skyridge each found their way to two victories on Tuesday afternoon as the final stages of the 6A softball tournament kicked off at the Cottonwood Softball Complex.

The Silverwolves shut down Weber in five innings by a score of 12-0 to move on to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals they met up with Fremont, who was coming off an extra-inning victory over Mountain Ridge that featured a walkoff hit from Savanah Palmatier.

Riverton edged Fremont 5-0 in another dominant performance from senior Kaysen Korth. She had 11 strikeouts to zero walks and only allowed two base runners the entire game as Riverton picked up their 17th shutout of the season, including their fourth in four state tournament games. 

Offensively things hit some dry spells. Riverton was able to get a run across in four separate innings, but did so with methodical movement and just focusing on advancing a runner 60 feet at a time. In the top of the second inning, Tessa Hogue found herself on first base with just one out. Great reaction time and smart decision making helped her come around to score the first run of the game. First she stole second, then she made it to third on a wild pitch, and finally was able to come home on a sacrifice fly.

“That is what it is all about, getting excited for those little moments like Tessa being super speedy and getting to the next base. That is such a huge thing, making sure we aren’t overly focused on the big hits and the big things, those will happen with time if we get excited for the little things,” said Kaysen Korth.

Similar events unfolded in the next two frames before Lillian Heitz was able to hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, separating Riverton from Fremont for good.

Skyridge advanced through Bracket 2 with an up-and-down day. In its first game, pitcher Elliott Plewe struggled, allowing 11 runs in just 3 innings as the Falcons found themselves trailing to Cyprus late in the game. The offense was able to find a spark in the bottom half of the sixth inning, flipping a one-run deficit into an eventual four-run victory and a spot in the quarterfinals against a good Bingham Miners team.

Despite the struggles in Game 1, the Skyridge coach decided to go back to Plewe in the second game of the day. It turned out to be the perfect decision. 

Bingham scored one run in the top of the first inning to grab an early lead. The Falcons quickly responded. Plewe got up to bat with one out and two runners on, she was able to smash a home run towards the sunset, giving Skyridge a 3-1 lead after the first inning. 

“It is easier to loosen up once we had runs on the board, I was able to pitch loose and just trust my team behind me. We have a great catcher behind the plate in Irma Medina, she has a really good arm and keep runner on their toes. Our infield has been very solid all year and were great today,” said Plewe.

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Over the next six innings the two teams clawed their way to few offensive opportunities, but neither team was able to capitalize and bring in another run as Plewe and Bingham pitcher Shelbee Jones dominated throughout.

Irma Medina was a big X-factor throughout the day, hitting a key home run in the first game before making two big throw outs to maintain the lead in the second. In the final frame, with zero outs and runners on first and second, Medina was able to get out the runner trying to steal third and completely flip momentum. Plewe’s eighth strikeout of the game followed by a pop out sealed the win and pushed Skyridge further into the state tournament than they have ever gone in school history. 

“We talked to the team after about after how great this win feels, but if you like how it feels today, there is more out there,” Skyridge coach Tyler Plewe said. “This isn’t close to the end, so stay hungry, that is our motto right now, stay hungry, keep hunting.”

Both teams play tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. against winners from the morning games. They will have two opportunities if needed to clinch their spot in championship series.

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