ST. GEORGE — Desert Hills got off to the best possible start in the 4A state softball tournament in bracket play Wednesday at Spanish Fork.
The Thunder beat defending 4A champion Bear River 6-2 and then defeated Payson 9-1. Desert Hills can make its first-ever trip to the state title series with a win Thursday afternoon.
Go to the UHSAA website to view the updated brackets from the ongoing tournament.
No. 2 and unbeaten Region 9 champ Desert Hills set the tone against Bear River with two runs in the first inning and three more in the second in the efficient victory.
Bailey Lee hit a double among her two knocks and drove in two runs for the winners. Sophomore Riley Greene swung the biggest bat, hitting safely three times and plating three. Lulu West chipped in with two hits and an RBI.
West also pitched the win against Region 11’s Bears, allowing two runs on three hits over seven innings. She walked four batters and struck out one.
West came right back to pitch the Thunder to a big win over Payson. She allowed one run off three Payson hits in her complete effort. She walked one and struck out five batters.
Desert Hills produced 13 hits against the Lions, two of them from West. Senior Campbell Tate finished with three hits and scored twice.
Three different Thunder batters posted two hits and an RBI for the winners – Greene, Nelyana Brinagh and Peyten Benson.
The Thunder (24-3) await the winner of the elimination game between Bear River and Payson and will play whoever that is Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at Spanish Fork.
With a win, Desert Hills will go to the 4A state championship series starting Friday at Brigham Young University.
Cedar, Hurricane face elimination
No. 4 seed Cedar beat No. 12 Crimson Cliffs 3-0 and then fell to No. 1 Ridgeline 12-0, setting up an elimination game Thursday for the Reds.
Cedar scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning to beat Region 9 rival Crimson Cliffs.
Sadie Parson was nearly perfect in the pitcher’s circle for Cedar. She surrendered only one hit to the Mustangs. Parson walked none and struck out 12 Crimson batters in a gem.
Mya Bishoff tripled among her two hits and drove in two of Cedar’s runs, also scoring in the win. Marley Geddes accounted for one hit and scored as well. Shaylee Johnson scored the Reds’ third run.
No. 8 Hurricane was blanked by Ridgeline 8-0 to start the day but rallied to win their second game 13-3 against Crimson Cliffs, ending the season for the Mustangs.
Statistics from the Tigers win were not available.
Region 9 rivals Hurricane and Cedar face each other in an elimination game Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at Spanish Fork. The winner of that contest will have to beat Ridgeline twice in order to advance to the championship series.
The top-seeded Riverhawks (27-1) defeated both Cedar and Hurricane on Wednesday by a combined score of 20-0.
Snow Canyon bows out
The third-seeded Warriors went 0-2 Wednesday in Spanish Fork, bringing their season to a close.
Payson beat Snow Canyon 3-2 in eight innings and then Snow Canyon fell 9-6 against Bear River in the afternoon game.
Alyssa Staheli and Allie Landis scored the runs for Snow Canyon in the defeat against the Lions.
Against Bear River, the Warriors held leads of 3-1 after one inning and 6-4 after three frames, but the Bears tied it with two in the fifth and won it with three more in the seventh.
Senior Avery Thorkelson did everything she could for Snow Canyon, driving in four RBIs with her two hits. Tyeci Fuller and Chandler Beck collected two hits apiece.
Thorkelson, bound for Snow College next year, stood tall in the circle on Wednesday. She piled up 22 strikeouts in the two defeats.
Snow Canyon completed the campaign 19-8 overall and 8-4 in Region 9, finishing third in the standings.
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