ST. GEORGE — Desert Hills High School earned a share of the Region 10 softball title last week after sweeping Dixie in a home-and-home series that concluded the regular season.

“We’ve taken our lumps here and there through the years, and this year we were able to come and get a share of it and we’re excited about that,” Thunder coach Heidi Taylor told St. George News.

Snow Canyon (19-9) and Desert Hills (18-5) shared the Region 10 championship with records of 11-1. The teams split their series against each other in the regular season, with each team winning on the road.

Desert Hills earned the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs after RPI (rating percentage index) standings were figured, and brackets for the 4A state tournament were released Tuesday morning.

“One game at a time,” Taylor said. “We really just want to go out and play our game. There will be some matchups we want to look at but we just want to do what we’re doing and continue that because it’s gotten us where we’re at so far.”

Snow Canyon earned the No. 4 seed and will play at home in the opening round of the playoffs. The Warriors host No. 13 Pine View (6-16) Friday, May 12, at 4 p.m., with game two scheduled for Saturday, May 13 at 11 a.m.

Region 11’s Ridgeline (24-3) and Bear River (21-5) earned the top two seeds at state, respectively.

Crimson Cliffs was seeded fifth in the bracket and will play No. 12 Green Canyon in the first round. The Mustangs (12-7) host the Wolves (7-18) in game one on Friday, May 12 at 4 p.m. in Washington Fields.

No. 7 Cedar will also play at home on Friday, hosting No. 10 Logan (7-18) for game one at 4 p.m.

No. 9 Dixie and No. 11 Hurricane go on the road Friday for first-round game ones at No. 6 Sky View (11-11-1) and No. 8 Mountain Crest (10-12), respectively.

After this weekend’s first-round action, teams will be reseeded for bracket play May 17-18 at Cottonwood Softball Complex in Salt Lake City.

Then the state championship games will take place May 19-20 at Gail Miller Field on Brigham Young University’s Provo campus.

Full softball tournament brackets are on the UHSAA website.

Following are recaps of games from the last week of Region 10 action on the diamond. The home-and-home series games were played on May 2 and May 5.

Desert Hills 17, Dixie o | Desert Hills 16, Dixie 0

The Thunder bats peaked at the right time as Desert Hills exploded for 33 runs and 21 hits in five combined innings of work in the two games against Dixie.

Senior Jenelle Jones lined a leadoff home run in Friday’s contest at Thunder Field.

“I have to look for a specific pitch, then when it comes down to two strikes, I have to be more selective and battle it more,” Jones told St. George News, describing her approach to hitting first in the lineup. “So if it’s close at all, I’m still going to battle it off if I can get it.”

Jones is no stranger to leading off with a homer, as she did it against Crimson Cliffs last year. She added a triple and three RBI against Dixie in Friday’s win.

“We all worked really hard together to try to accomplish that,” Jones said about winning a share of the Region 10 championship. “It’s our first year ever to do that for Desert Hills. It was very important for the girls and it was a very good accomplishment for us to do that all together.”

Freshman Jayla Ybright homered in the win and drove in four. Aisey Gargano and Payten Benson also went yard for the Thunder, driving in a combined five runs.

Saidey Spencer threw a spotless inning to start the game; then Lulu West hurled the next two frames to get the win on the bump. West gave up one hit and struck out four Flyers.

Desert Hills gets some time to rest after earning a bye in the first round of the state playoffs.

“We’re confident,” Jones said. “We’re gonna go in there; we’re gonna go with as much as we can. We’re gonna go very hard and we’ll see how far we can get.”

Cedar 12, Pine View 2 | Cedar 18, Pine View 8

The Reds swept the series behind 29 hits in the two games.

In Friday’s win in Cedar City, Shaylee Johnson doubled and homered to lead the offense. She was one of five different Reds batters who posted two RBI in the win.

Sadie Parson did the pitching duties in the victory, working five innings and yielding two runs off five Pine View hits. She walked one and struck out five.

In Tuesday’s win at Pine View, Haylee Campbell doubled and homered, driving in four runs for Cedar. Parson helped her own cause with a home run and two RBI.

Paytyn Houston and Mya Bishoff each posted three RBI for the winners.

And Parson pitched the win again, this time working the full seven innings. She gave up eight hits and four of the eight runs against her were unearned. She walked three and struck out six Panthers.

Crimson Cliffs 13, Hurricane 8 | Crimson Cliffs 6, Hurricane 3

The Mustangs are working on a six-game winning streak after sweeping the Tigers. Crimson Cliffs finished Region 10 play with an 8-4 mark, good for third place.

In Tuesday’s game at Hurricane, Ellie Brinkerhoff led the way at the plate for Crimson with a double, triple and an RBI. Abbey Morris drove in three for the winners.

Sophie Staheli and Kaydee Roberts each had two for the winners as well.

Ace McKenna Cahoon pitched seven innings for the win, giving up six hits. Six of the eight runs against her were unearned. The senior right-hander walked four and struck out seven Tigers.

Paisley Lantz did all the damage for Crimson in Friday’s game at Washington Fields. The slugger doubled, homered and drove in four of the six Mustangs’ runs in the game.

Hurricane countered with a homer by Emma Patterson, who drove in two Tigers in the defeat.

Cahoon pitched seven innings in this game for the win as well, giving up three runs off six Hurricane hits. She walked two batters and struck out nine.

Final Region 10 softball standings (region, overall) as of May 9

• Desert Hills 11-1, 18-5
• Snow Canyon 11-1, 19-9
• Crimson Cliffs 8-4, 12-7
• Cedar 6-6, 11-13
• Hurricane 4-8, 10-10
• Pine View 1-11, 6-16
• Dixie 1-11, 5-17

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