The Utah state softball tournament begins today. The Region 9 teams are paired against the Region 11 teams. The initial pairings are scheduled for 10 a.m. and noon. Three of the Region 9 teams are expected to win with the only exception being Pine View, which is facing the top-ranked team in the state. The losers of today’s matchups will play the loser of the other bracket between Regions 10 and 12 immediately following the first two games at 2 p.m. Today’s winner bye into the rest of the tournament next week. Below is a summary of today’s matchups.
Morgan (6-14) v. Snow Canyon (14-2-1) at Snow Canyon High School, 12:00 noon
Snow Canyon bounced back from its only region loss to beat Desert Hills and repeat as Region 9 champions. They will face Morgan who eked out a fourth place finish in Region 11 but has not won against any tournament teams all year (0-6). The Lady Warriors are 6-1 against the field. Heather Prestwich will be in the circle today. Offensively Snow Canyon is led by Sonya Hardy but has gotten production up and down its lineup. Mada Mooring, Camryn Johnson, Nikenna Durante, Natalie and Taylor Gunn, and Kaitlyn Flowers all have multiple extra-base hits this year. The other pairing in this bracket is Stansbury (16-6) versus Carbon (15-8).
Pine View (13-12) v. Bear River (19-3) at Bear River High School, 10:00 a.m.
Pine View drew the top-ranked team in the state at Bear River’s home field. The Lady Bears are stacked at both the hitting and pitching department. Pine View knows a little something about upsets though. They defeated fifth-ranked Desert Hills in the last region game of the year. Bear River went undefeated in Region 11. The Lady Panthers finished fourth in Region 9. They won their last three games, their last two coming against tournament teams. The Lady Panthers are 3-7 against the field. Either Addi Horspool or Jordan Gosik will be in the circle today for Pine View. Horspool also leads the team at the plate. The other pairing in this bracket is Canyon View (8-13) versus Tooele (14-8).
Logan (8-12) v. Deseret Hills (21-6) at Juab High School, 10:00 a.m.
Logan finished third in Region 11. Desert Hills lost its last region game and Coach Fonnesbeck is good at getting his team motivated after a loss. The Lady Thunder are 4-1 after losing games. Logan is 2-4 against the field with their only two wins coming against Morgan. Desert Hills is 4-4 against the field. Brianna St. Clair will pitch from the circle. As a team the Thunder have 25 home runs, 8 triples and 48 doubles. St. Clair and Shelby Reynolds lead Desert Hills offensively. Sophie Wilcox, Morgynn Rosemyer, Ashlee File, Megan Wiscombe and Dalys Coil have all had mulbtiple extra-base hits this year. The other pairing in this bracket is Union (12-13) versus Juab (19-1).
Cedar (15-9) v. Juan Diego (9-14) at Grantsville High School, 12:00 noon
Cedar finished third in Region 9 but tied for second with Desert Hills in the standings. Their nine losses have come against good teams. The Lady Reds are 4-6 against the field. They will face Juan Diego. The Soaring Eagle is 4-3 against the field, including a loss to Pine View. Bryton Holyoak will pitch from the circle. The Lady Reds bats have been dominant all year. Sadie Leavitt, Dream Weaver, Hannah Williams, Abby Anderson and Sage Oldroyd have all swung the bat well this year. The other pairing in this bracket is North Sanpete (11-9) versus Grantsville (14-8).
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