4A state softball: Snow Canyon, Desert Hills, Cedar remain in contention after Day 1 of bracket play

Written by Jeff Richards
May 17, 2023
Snow Canyon pitcher Avery Thorkelson, 4A state softball playoffs, Millcreek, Utah, May 17, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Three Region 10 softball teams remained alive in the 4A state playoffs at the end of the day on Wednesday, the first day of bracket play. 

Cedar vs. Bear River, 4A state softball playoffs, Millcreek, Utah, May 17, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

Competing at the Cottonwood Complex in Millcreek, Desert Hills, Snow Canyon and Cedar all went 1-1 on Wednesday and dropped into the one-loss bracket. A fourth Region 10 team, fifth-seeded Crimson Cliffs, lost twice and has been eliminated from contention.

Following are short recaps of Wednesday’s games, starting with the 10:30 a.m. contests that were played simultaneously on the complex’s four fields:

Desert Hills 1, Sky View 0

After scoring the game’s only run in the first inning, the Thunder managed to keep the Sky View Bobcats off the scoreboard.

Desert Hills got off to a promising start in the bottom of the first when its first two batters, Jenelle Jones and Riley Green, both singled. Jones scored on an error by Sky View during a steal attempt. Saidey Spencer then hit into a fielder’s choice play, and Greene was thrown out at home. 

The Thunder ended up stranding several runners throughout the game; they left the bases loaded in the fifth. 

However, thanks to solid defensive effort, along with the stellar pitching of Lulu West, the Thunder held on for the shutout. West pitched the entire game, scattering five hits while walking three batters and striking out eight.

Bear River 7, Cedar 2

Screenshot of Cedar’s Sadie Parson pitching against Bear River, Millcreek, Utah, May 17, 2023 | Image courtesy of KSL.com, St. George News

Despite leading 1-0 after one inning and 2-1 after four, the Cedar Reds faded at the end against Bear River, allowing three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings.

In the top of the first, Lexi Ludlow drove in Cedar’s first run with a double off the fence, scoring teammate Haylee Campbell, who’d reached base after getting hit by a pitch.

After leading off the fourth inning with a single, Ludlow stole second and moved to third on a single by Sadie Parson. Taislee Arehart hit a ground ball to third and reached first on an error by the third baseman, with Ludlow scoring on the play.

That would be all the runs Cedar could muster as the Reds were held hitless over the final three innings, their only two baserunners reaching via walks.

Meanwhile, Bear River’s bats came alive with five hits over the final two innings.

Starting pitcher Parson went the distance for the Reds, allowing seven runs (four earned) while walking five and striking out two. Bear River reliever Kate Dahle, who entered the game in the fifth inning, was the winning pitcher.

Snow Canyon 3, Crimson Cliffs 1

Crimson Cliffs vs. Snow Canyon, 4A state softball playoffs, Millcreek, Utah, May 17, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

Snow Canyon scored twice in the first inning, added another run in the second and held on to defeat the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs 3-1.

Pitcher Avery Thorkelson went the distance for the Warriors, striking out 17 of the 35 batters she faced, while allowing just four hits and walking 11.

Kylie Hardy was Snow Canyon’s top hitter, going 3-for-4, scoring after a single in the first and knocking in another run on a single in the third.

Meanwhile, shortstop Sophie Staheli had two of the Mustangs’ four hits and scored their only run.

Ridgeline 9, Mountain Crest 0

The top-seeded Riverhawks scored nine runs on nine hits in a rout of the Mountain Crest Mustangs.

Wednesday afternoon games

After the four simultaneous morning games wrapped up, the winners played each other on Fields 2 and 4 at 2:30 p.m., while the losers played on Fields 1 and 3. The results of these games are as follows:

Ridgeline 2, Snow Canyon 0

Although they ended up with five total hits to Ridgeline’s four, the Snow Canyon Warriors couldn’t get a run across the plate against the top-seeded Riverhawks. 

Ridgeline third baseman Abbie Banning drove in both of her team’s runs, belting a solo homer in the second inning and hitting a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Bear River 4, Desert Hills 2

Desert Hills vs. Bear River, 4A state softball playoffs, Millcreek, Utah, May 17, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Heidi Taylor, St. George News

Desert Hills got off to an encouraging start against Bear River, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks to a two-run single by Lulu West. But the Bears scored a run in the third and added three more in the fourth to go ahead 4-2, which accounted for all the scoring in the contest. West pitched the entire game for Desert Hills, allowing eight hits while striking out four and walking two.

Cedar 14, Sky View 7

Cedar exploded for nine runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back in a 14-7 win over Sky View.

Shortstop Haylee Campbell went 5-for-5 from the plate and knocked in four RBIs as the Reds kept their tournament hopes alive and eliminated the Bobcats from contention.

First baseman Lexi Ludlow also drove in four runs for Cedar, including a two-run single that got things started in the top of the first.

Pitcher Sadie Parson picked up the complete game win for Cedar, allowing seven runs on 12 hits while walking one and striking out eight.

Mountain Crest 9, Crimson Cliffs 3

Crimson Cliffs vs. Mountain Crest, 4A state softball playoffs, Millcreek, Utah, May 17, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

In a Mustangs vs. Mustangs matchup, Mountain Crest broke open a tight game by scoring three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-3 lead over Crimson Cliffs. 

Mountain Crest then added three more insurance runs in the seventh to ice the win and eliminate Crimson Cliffs from the tournament.

Crimson’s first pair of runs came on a two-run home run by first baseman Paisley Lantz in the bottom of the second inning, which also scored shortstop Sophie Staheli.

Lantz also hit an RBI single in the third inning that brought in Kaydee Roberts.

Thursday’s schedule 

Thursday will start with a pair of 10:30 a.m. games in the one-loss brackets. No. 4 Snow Canyon will take on No. 8 Mountain Crest on Field 1, with the winner advancing to play No. 1 Ridgeline on that same field at 12:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, in the other bracket, Region 10 rivals Desert Hills and Cedar, the No. 3 and No. 7 seeds, will square off at 10:30 a.m. on Field 3, with the winner of that game facing No. 2 Bear River on that same field at 12:30 p.m. 

Should either Ridgeline or Bear River lose on Thursday afternoon, another “if necessary” rubber match would be played immediately afterward on the same field at 2:30 p.m. The respective winners of Brackets 1 and 2 will then meet each other for a best-of-three state championship series Friday-Saturday at Brigham Young University in Provo.

Click here to see the full bracket on Utah High School Activities Association’s website.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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