Prep softball: Enterprise hands D-Hills 1st loss of season

Desert Hills vs. South Summit, Softball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 16, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Enterprise started fast, then finished strong to hand Desert Hills its first loss of the season Thursday at DHHS.

The Lady Thunder gave up five runs to Enterprise in the top of the first inning, then fought their way back to take the lead late in the game. But the Lady Wolves got the last laugh by scoring two runs in the last inning to take the 7-6 victory. The loss snapped Desert Hills’ 12-game winning streak to open the season.

Enterprise came into the game with almost as good a resume as Desert Hills. The Wolves have posted a 7-2 record, are ranked first in 2A and 10th overall in Utah, six places behind the Lady Thunder. The Lady Wolves have high profile wins against Cedar and Carbon.

“It was a good game. Enterprise is a good team,” said Desert Hills coach Kacee McArthur. “They had some big hits and played well. We were down early, but fought back. We took the lead late and had a chance to win it in the last inning.”

Desert Hills’ Rilee Stookey (83), file photo from Desert Hills vs. Cottonwood, Softball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 11, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The Thunder actually out-hit Enterprise 12-6 and played error-free softball.

“We could not string our hits together,” said McArthur. “We left a lot of runners on base, including in the last inning.”

After Desert Hills had clawed back to take a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a Riley Stookey triple, Enterprise responded with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh .

In the bottom of the seventh, Desert Hills had runners on second and third but could not get them across. “We could not get that last hit to tie it or win it at the end,” said McArthur.

Stookey and Brianna St. Clair led the team with three hits apiece. Katelyn Philips had two hits. Ashlee File and Stookey led the team with two RBIs each. File’s two RBIs came in the fifth on a triple. St. Clair pitched the complete game and suffered her first loss of the season.

“Overall, I was happy with how the girls fought back and got back in the game against a strong team,” said McArthur. “We will have a few practices before region play begins to fine tune some things.”

Desert Hills will open region play by hosting the Dixie Flyers on March 30. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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