Here’s a recap of the four winners bracket games of the 2A state tournament at Spanish Fork Sports Park on Thursday afternoon.
South Sevier 16, Milford 1
Top seed South Sevier ran its winning streak to 26 straight with another dominant win in the 2A state tournament on Thursday morning at Spanish Fork Sports Park.
The Rams scored eight runs in the second and then six more in the third to walk it off in the bottom of the third inning with a 16-1 win over No. 8 Milford.
South Sevier advances to Friday’s quarterfinals and will face No. 4 seed Enterprise at 10 a.m.
“They just did everything that we asked him to do. We wanted him to come in and hit right off the bat, and they took an inning, but they got the bats going. It shows if they’re going through three pitchers trying to figure something else out, and we just kept at it. We didn’t let a pitcher affect us too much. And every girl did their job,” said South Sevier coach Elle Woolsey.
South Sevier improved to 26-1 with the win, and needs three more victories this week to claim its first state championship since 2004.
“If they play their game and they hit like they’re supposed to, when we have our pitchers show up the way they’re supposed to, then I don’t see how this doesn’t end well for us, but as long as we play our game, we’re gonna be OK,” said Woolsey.
Seven different South Sevier batters drove in runs in the win, led by Kinsey Parsons who went 3 for 3 with a double, home run and three RBIs. Caitlin Nielson also drove in three runs.
Enterprise 9, Gunnison 3
Expectations are a bit different in this year’s 2A state tournament for two-time defending state champ Enterprise. Even though the Wolves had a strong regular season and still earned a No. 4 seed, they were run-ruled twice during the regular season against No. 1 seed South Sevier.
The Rams will get another shot at South Sevier on Friday.
Enterprise rolled to the 9-3 win over No. 5 seed Gunnison Valley at Spanish Fork Sports Park on Thursday as it tagged Gunnison pitching for 13 hits and capitalized on five more errors.
“It just took them a minute to get their bats going, but once they figured it out and figured out their pitcher, they just put their nose down and hit the ball and did what we’ve told them to do and be disciplined at the plate,” said Enterprise coach Katye Jones.
Enterprise freshman Lexi Walker doubled and drove in three runs for the Wolves, while Taylin Platt and Taya Jones each went 2 for 4 and Kyla Humphries went 3 for 4. Platt, Jones and Humphries are the only three seniors who are back from last year’s championship team, and their leadership has been invaluable this year for the Wolves.
Coach Jones knows her team isn’t the favorite ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal with South Sevier, but she said it doesn’t change the approach at all for her team.
“Go in every game, one game at a time. We just keep telling them, one game at a time, but it’s in the game in the moment. So whatever that is, that’s what we prepare for, and then we just move on to the next,” said Jones.
Kynlee Reber earned the win for Enterprise striking out four in 6 1/3 innings while only allowing one earned run.
Duchesne 7, Grand 3
Duchesne coach Kyle Grant has high expectations for his team, and the No. 2 seed Eagles took care of business in their first real test of the 2A state tournament.
After No. 7 seed Grand cut the deficit to 4-3 in the fifth inning, Duchesne responded by extending the lead to 7-3 in the sixth to remain in the winners bracket with a strong win on Thursday.
“We played them twice this year and beat them pretty good, but we knew it was going to be a different game today,” said Grant. “The girls knew we were going to have to get through a little tough spot there. We got tight for a minute, then we kind of stretched it out a little bit, and the nerves didn’t get to him.”
Kira Grant went 5 2/3 innings and struck out six batters to earn the win, while she also helped out her own cause at the plate in the lead-off spot as she went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Five different batters drove in runs for the Eagles.
Duchesne improved to 23-7 on the season with the win, and Coach Grant believes his team is good enough to keep stacking up the wins at this week’s tournament.
“Last year I had pretty much the same group, and we didn’t know what to expect. But this year, you know, these girls have been playing tough all year and we’re expecting to be here on Saturday,” he said. “That’s the expectation of this team. If we’re not, we’ll be disappointed.”
Beaver 2, Altamont 1
Altamont pitcher Kiley Crapo made things very difficult on Beaver’s hitters in the 2A state tournament on Thursday, but two clutch hits in the fifth inning helped the third-seeded Beavers pull things out.
Danzee Bradshaw and Jerzee Beaumont both recorded RBIs in the two-run fifth as Beaver rallied for the 2-1 win over No. 6 seed Altamont to remain in the 2A winners bracket.
The Beavers advance to face No. 2 seed Duchesne on Friday in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m.
“Two big batters came up and get the job done and get us two runs. But we got to be better batters if we want to get deep,” said Beaver coach Dallen Bradshaw. “I’ve got a long lot of young girls out there, a lot of sophomores, freshmen. It was good for them to get in that tight ball game right there and pull that out. That’s what I was happy about.”
KaBella Low picked up the win over Beaver only allowing one hit in seven innings. She only struck out three batters as the defense behind her played a clean game throughout.
“When you’re not hitting the ball, you gotta have dialed in your pitching and defense. Our team is very defensive oriented, and that’s what we do, we play defense,” said Coach Bradshaw.