4A Winners Bracket
Desert Hills 5, Cedar City 4
Peyton Benson doubled home teammate Bailey Lee in the bottom of the seventh as the No. 2 seed Thunder survived to beat rival Cedar City and remain in the winner’s bracket of the 4A state tournament. It was Desert Hills’ second one-run win on Tuesday.
Desert Hills can book its place in Thursday’s state championship series with one more win on Wednesday.
Desert Hills led 4-1 after three innings, but Cedar City rallied with three runs in the sixth to set the stage for a big moment for Benson, whoe finished the game going 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
“I knew we had a chance when she was up to bat, that we had a chance of ending this game with Bailey on second base,” said Taylor, who thought her team handle the stress of playing two tight games well on Tuesday.
“We talk about pressure being a privilege all the time, because if you put pressure on yourselves, what a privilege it is to be in those big games. But also, when you get into moments like this, hopefully you can be looser because you’ve had the privilege of being in that situation,” added Taylor.
Lee went 3 for 4 with three RBIs.
Bear River 10, Payson 0
Bear River was in control from the first inning against Payson, and a big reason was the momentum it carried over from its win over Ridgeline an hour earlier.
The Bears scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back as Lucy Roche led and Aubree Fry led the way at the plate with great games going 3 for 4 in leading their team to its 30th win of the season.
“We just took the momentum and let it fly. Girls had good at bats, and that’s what their goal was, is to put up a lot of runs in the first inning and just defeat them right out of the gate,” said Bear River coach Jordan Theurer.
Bear River tacked on three more runs in the second and then ended it in the fifth via the 10-run rule.
Katelyn Wilson earned the win, striking out four batters.
“When Kate’s on the mound throwing like that, it puts us in a really good spot,” said Theurer.
With one more win on Wednesday, Bear River will secure its place in the 4A state championship series at BYU beginning on Thursday.
4A Elimination Games
Ridgeline 15, Hurricane 0
After losing a heartbreaker in the first game of the day in a walk-off by Bear River, defending state champion Ridgeline bounced back in a big way.
Anne Wallace double and homered and drove in four runs while Kate Dahlke went 2 for 3 with four RBIs of her own as Ridgeline scored 11 runs in the bottom of the third inning to win 15-0.
Brielle Gardiner also went 2 for 2 with a home run as Ridgeline prevailed in the 4A elimination game.
West Field 11, Logan 1
After dropping its first game to Cedar, No. 3 seed West Field bounced back with a dominant performance against No. 7 seed Logan to keep its playoff hopes alive in the 4A elimination game.
Hailee Ellsworth and Kam Bell each drove in three runs for the Longhorns, with lead-off hitter Rylee Andreasen going 3 for 3 and scoring three runs.
West Field trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning, but its bats came alive with six runs in the third and three more in the fourth.
4A Opening Games
Bear River 7, Ridgeline 6
Lucy Roche singled home in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as top seed Bear River rallied past No. 9 seed Ridgeline for the 7-6 win despite trailing 6-3 at one point.
Marley Tisdol’s 3-run home in the fifth inning tied the game for the Bears, who won it in the seventh. Roche also homered in the game and drove in four.
“Marley has just been so consistent all year long for us in big moments, she steps up. I don’t know how many big moments she stepped up in this year, but she did exactly that,” said coach Theurer.
Ridgeline pounded out four home runs in the game, two by Kylie Jorgensen, and one each from Anne Wallace and Brielle Gardiner.
The Riverhawks couldn’t hold onto the lead though.
“Obviously that first game was just emotional roller coaster, and we had plenty of opportunities our kids could have died, but they were just gritty the entire way and fought back. So as a coach, you couldn’t ask for anything more,” said Theurer.
Allie Callahan went 3 for 4 with two home runs and seven RBIs — including a walk-off grand slam in the fourth inning as No. 4 seed Payson overwhelmed Hurricane in the first game of the 4A state tournament at Spanish Fork Complex.
Payson jumped out fast with six runs in the first inning and coasted from there. Aydrie Christensen had a strong game in the circle for Payson, allowing only two hits and striking out six.
Paisley Beckstead also went 3 for 3 with two RBIs for the Lions.
Desert Hills 3, Logan 2
No. 2 seed Desert Hills’ bats struggled against Logan pitcher Cambree Cooper, but the Thunder eventually pulled away on a key hit in the sixth inning to march on the 4A winners bracket.
Payten Benson went 2 for 2 with two RBIs to lead the way at the plate, while Lulu West struck out nine to earn the win.
“I would love to hit a whole lot more. I love to make it not so close, but also like it’s the state tournament, so you’re getting everybody’s best games. Everybody’s bringing their best. So it’s kind of what we expected. It’s been kind of fun, and close games are fun games,” said coach Taylor.
Cedar City 7, West Field 5
Sadie Parson struck out eight, and then at the plate went 2 for 4 with two RBIs as she led No. 6 Cedar to the mild upset over No. 3 Cedar in the first game of the day at Spanish Fork Sports Park.
Cedar led 3-1 after four innings, but broke the game wide open in the top of the fifth with four RBIs.
Hunter Blackner also had a strong day at the plate going 2 for 2 with two walks, two runs scored and two RBIs.