4A state softball: 3 Region 10 teams bow out; Ridgeline to face Bear River for title

Written by Jeff Richards
May 19, 2023
Saidey Spencer of Desert Hills runs toward second base, flanked by Cedar infielders Marley Geddes and Lexi Ludlow, Millcreek, Utah, May 18, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Region 10’s Snow Canyon, Desert Hills and Cedar were all eliminated from the 4A state softball playoffs on Thursday. 

Their exit of those three Southern Utah schools, along with that of Mountain Crest, means two Region 11 teams, namely No. 1 seed Ridgeline and No. 2 seed Bear River, will be vying for the state championship on Friday and Saturday.

Following are short recaps of Thursday’s games, which started at 10:30 a.m. with two contests from the one-loss brackets. They were played at the Cottonwood Complex in Millcreek, Salt Lake County.

Mountain Crest 6, Snow Canyon 4

Despite outhitting the Mustangs 14-9, the Snow Canyon Warriors were unable to keep up with Mountain Crest in scoring, eventually dropping a 6-4 decision.

Down 6-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Snow Canyon’s first two batters got on base, with Avery Thorkelson reaching first on a ground-ball error by the shortstop and Kennadi Gates following with a double to center field.

Snow Canyon pitcher Emma Daniel vs. Mountain Crest, 4A softball playoffs, Millcreek, Utah, May 18, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

Chandler Beck then grounded out, scoring Thorkelson and narrowing the Warriors’ deficit to two runs.

Two batters later, with two out and a full count, Allie Landis hit a hard grounder to shortstop and beat the throw to first for a single, with Gates advancing to third. 

That’s as close as the Warriors would get, however, as leadoff hitter Kylie Hardy then grounded out to end the game. 

Eight different Warriors recorded at least one base hit during the contest, led by Gates and second baseman Meah Stafford, who each had three.

Cedar 9, Desert Hills 5

The third time proved to be the charm for the Cedar Reds, who eliminated region rival Desert Hills from the playoffs with a 9-5 victory.

Desert Hills had swept the Reds during the Region 10 regular season, with the Thunder winning 11-1 at home on April 4 and 19-3 at Cedar City two days later. 

Cedar players and coaches celebrate after Reds’ 9-5 playoff win over Desert Hills, Millcreek, Utah, May 18, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

Thursday’s matchup was a much more competitive contest. Cedar took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a two-run homer by Shay Johnson that also brought in teammate Haylee Campbell, who’d reached first base on a dropped third strike,

Then, in the bottom of the third, Desert Hills answered with its own two-run blast, with Payten Benson driving the ball over the center field fence, scoring herself and Aisey Gargano.

Two innings later, the Thunder struck again, taking a 3-2 lead on a solo homer by Saidey Spencer.

Cedar then answered with a solo home run by Lexi Ludlow in the top of the sixth, tying the game 3-3.

Desert Hills went three up, three down in the sixth, so the game was still tied heading into the seventh and final inning.

Cedar vs. Desert Hills, 4A softball playoffs, Millcreek, Utah, May 18, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

It was then that Cedar put together a six-run rally to effectively put the game out of reach. The inning started with a leadoff double by Mya Bishoff, which was followed by Jenna Crain reaching first on a passed-ball third strike, then by three consecutive singles. Ludlow then added an exclamation point to the rally by belting a grand slam that put the Reds up 9-3.

Desert Hills managed to get two runs in the bottom of the seventh, as Spencer belted a single that drove in both Jenelle Jones and Riley Greene, each of whom had also singled.

Cedar pitcher Sadie Parson went the distance for the win, giving up five runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out five. Meanwhile, Desert Hills starter Lulu West, who came out in the seventh while the Thunder were down 5-3, took the tough loss. She gave up seven hits while striking out nine batters and walking two.

Thursday afternoon games

Waiting on the sidelines to play the winners of the first two contests were top-seeded Ridgeline and No. 2 Bear River, each of whom had won both of their tournament games the preceding day. Both stayed undefeated:

Ridgeline 13, Mountain Crest 0

Ridgeline shut out Mountain Crest 13-0, in a game that ended after five innings due to the mercy rule. The Mustangs managed just four hits and committed seven errors during the loss.

Bear River 10, Cedar 1

Cedar’s Taislee Arehart pitches vs. Bear River, Millcreek, Utah, May 18, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Tara Landis, St. George News

The Reds had opened bracket play on Wednesday with a tough 7-2 loss to Bear River. After bouncing back with two straight victories in the one-loss bracket, Cedar met its match and exited the tournament with its second loss to the Bears.

Bear River scored a pair of runs in the first, third and fourth innings to build an early 6-0 lead. 

Cedar finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning, with Marley Geddes crossing the plate on a fielder’s choice when Shay Johnson grounded out. But Bear River then tacked on another four runs in the bottom of that inning to ice the win.

Championship

Ridgeline and Bear River will next play for the 4A state title by playing a best-of-three series at Gail Miller Field at Brigham Young University in Provo. The first game is scheduled for noon on Friday. To see the complete 4A bracket, with scores and schedule, click here.

Ridgeline (now 27-3 overall on the season) won both of its regular-season matchups against Bear River, with the Riverhawks defeating the Bears 10-9 at Bear River on April 10 and 5-2 at Ridgeline on April 27.

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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 and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

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

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