Region 9 softball: Simkins’ gem, Nyberg’s walk-off lift Dixie to win over PV

Written by Andy Griffin
March 31, 2015
Pine View first baseman Jodan Gosik (21) tries to catch a pop up as Dixie's Shaunna Gelter runs to first base, Pine View vs. Dixie, Softball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 31, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Summer Simkins and Hannah Nyberg were in search of a little redemption Tuesday afternoon and boy did they find it.

dixie-smPine-view-smNyberg hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning and Simkins struck out 13 batters as Dixie beat Pine View 1-0 at Dixie High to give the Lady Flyers their first region win.

“It feels amazing,” Nyberg said. “I have been struggling a bit at staying back on pitches. I just went up there thinking about squaring up on the ball and getting a hit.”

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That’s the ballgame … Hannah Nyberg (6) watches the flight of the ball, Pine View vs. Dixie, Softball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 31, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

With Michaela DeKorver on third base and two men out, Nyberg nailed an inside pitch deep into left field and over the a drawn-in Pine View outfield for the walk-off game-winner.

Meanwhile, Simkins who gave up 10 runs and was eventually pulled from the game in a loss to Snow Canyon last week, was pretty much unhittable against the Panthers. She allowed just two base knocks in eight full innings and walked just two Pine View batters. The two Panthers singles were six innings apart.

“I had a hard time hitting my spots against Snow Canyon,” Simkins said. “It was important to me to pitch better today. I did a lot better job of hitting those spots and getting in pitcher’s counts so that I could work towards them and not them towards me.”

Dixie had allowed 22 run in three region games coming into Tuesday’s contest and the Panthers had been scoring better than six runs per outing. But Simkins would have none of that on Tuesday. She gave up a first-inning single to Laikyn Paxman, then retired nine batters in a row before issuing a walk to Britain Nielson.  She then retired 10 more batters in a row before an error and a single to McKayla Leavitt.

Even in the eighth inning, where softball tiebreaker rules prescribe that a runner be put on second base to start the extra inning, Simkins never let that runner advance. She got a strikeout, a walk,a shallow pop fly and a groundout to end the top of the eighth.

Dixie pitcher Summer Simkins (10), Pine View vs. Dixie, Softball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 31, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Dixie pitcher Summer Simkins (10), Pine View vs. Dixie, Softball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 31, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Dixie’s offense didn’t have much more success against Pine View pitcher Addi Horspool, who struck out 11 and allowed just six hits. The Flyers had a pair of doubles by Aubri Challis, but she never reached third base on either hit. Challis also had a single, while Stacia gelter had a pair of singles.

DeKorver was the tiebreaker runner at second. Tana Western sacrificed her over to third base. Horspool was able to record a strikeout for the second out, but with the outfield playing fairly shallow to protect against a blooping single, Nyberg laced a deep fly ball that easily cleared the left fielder’s head and nearly left the ballpark.

“We definitely could have hit the ball better today, but we stuck with it on the defense,” Nyberg said. “We played together as a team and got this important win.”

Dixie still has a lot of work to do to contend for the region or even get into playoff position, but the win makes the Flyers 4-7 and 1-3 in region. Dixie hosts Hurricane Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Pine View, 5-6 and 3-2, is off until a raod game at Canyon View next Tuesday.

Stats: Dixie_vs_Lady_Panthers_Mar_31_2015

Cedar 15, Hurricane 0

The Lady Reds were hitting on all cylinders, especially in a 9-run second inning, as they dominated Hurricane Tuesday afternoon.

Javlyn Weaver had a run-scoring double and Brooke Westwood and Sadie Leavitt each hit home runs in the mercy-rule shortened game. Cedar scored nine in the second, three in the third and three more in the fourth to end the game. Marin Whitney got the win in the circle.

Canyon View 10, Desert Hills 6

The Lady Falcons rallied late in the game to surpass the Thunder and capture the win.

Mica Betts helped DHHS build a 5-2 lead, but the Canyon View bats were just getting started. CV scored four runs in the fifth and added an insurance run in the sixth to  get the win. Madi Adair homered in the fourth to pull the Falcons close.

CV, 4-7 overall and 3-1 in region play, is at Snow Canyon Wednesday night. D-Hills, 4-10 and 1-3, hosts Cedar Wednesday.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m. Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.

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