ST. GEORGE — In Friday’s softball action, Desert Hills and Cedar both stayed undefeated in Region 9 play, while Hurricane picked up its first region win.

Desert Hills 8, Canyon View 4

At Desert Hills, the Lady Thunder built an early 7-0 lead during the first two innings against Canyon View, then held on to beat the Falcons 8-4 in seven innings Friday afternoon.

In the first inning, Codi Olds belted a two-run homer, the third straight game she has hit a home run. Then, in the bottom of the second, the Thunder got two more dingers, with Lexie Green pounding a two-run shot to left, followed shortly by Addi Betts’ solo homer that made it 7-0.

Canyon View scored three runs in the top of the sixth, getting a couple hits and capitalizing on a few Thunder miscues. But the Falcons were not able to get any closer than the final 8-4 margin.

Starting pitcher Kylee Christensen picked up the win for Desert Hills. She also batted 3-for-3 at the plate. Canyon View’s Jordan Nielson took the loss.

“We started out really strong at the plate and hit well,” said Desert Hills head coach KaCee McArthur. “It was nice to start strong, but we kind of lost that aggressiveness that we had at the plate. We had a couple of miscues and allowed them to score some runs off of errors. We have to work to stay consistent and aggressive all seven innings.”

“Kylee Christensen also pitched really well for us today and our defense made some great plays.”

Desert Hills improved to 3-0 in region play with the win, while Canyon View dropped to 2-1 with the loss.

— Written by Jeff Richards

Cedar 12, Pine View 0

The Cedar High softball squad continues to bring the heat this season, and their talent showed Friday afternoon with a 12-0 victory at home over Pine View. Five players recorded home runs for the Lady Reds, with Denim Henkel knocking two out of the park.

Cedar maintained control of the offensive and defensive game during the five innings that were played. The game started off well for the Lady Reds as they made quick defensive stops on three successive batters in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff batter Japrix Weaver sent her third pitch out of the park, which was followed shortly afterward by a homer from Kylie Oldroyd to score both herself and Henkel, who had gotten on base from a pop fly error. Cedar was able to add a fourth run in the first inning as they batted through the entire lineup.  

Pine View had a three up, three down sequence in the top of the second, after which Cedar added four more runs, with Kelsi Oldroyd, Henkel, and Brittnee Simcox each hitting home runs.

Then, in the bottom of the third, Henkel picked up her second home run with a three-run shot to left field.

Cedar wrapped up the game after holding the Panthers scoreless once again in the top of in the fifth. Winning pitcher Kenzie Waters went the distance, allowing just two hits and no walks.

When asked what one of the motivating factors for his team is this year, Cedar head coach Chris Weaver said, “This team wants to prove that they are just as good as last year’s team. The girls work so hard at practice and that hard work shows during games.”

“We just take it one game at a time,” he added.

— Written by Megan Cafarelli

Hurricane 21, Dixie 8

At Dixie, the Hurricane Lady Tigers defeated the Flyers 21-8 for their first region win.

Hurricane jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Dixie scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-3.

The Lady Tigers then batted through the entire lineup twice during the top of the second, scoring 12 runs on five hits, five walks and three errors, with two batters being hit by a pitch.

Each team scored three runs in the fourth, but Dixie couldn’t close the gap enough to prevent the game from being called after five innings due to the mercy rule.

Haven Smith led the way for the Tigers with three hits in five at bats, while teammate Charley Landis walked five times and scored three runs. Abbie Elison hit two doubles and drove in three runs.

Chantell Pearson pitched the entire game for Hurricane and picked up the win, allowing eight runs on eight hits and striking out nine. Freshman Chloe Ellison started and took the loss for Dixie.

“We hit the ball well tonight,” Hurricane head coach Chris Hurst said. “We are still a work in progress on defense, but we made progress tonight.”

— Written by Jeff Richards

Region 9 softball standings (as of March 29)

Cedar 3-0 (11-2)
Desert Hills 3-0 (11-3)
Canyon View 2-1 (10-2)
Snow Canyon 2-1 (9-3)
Pine View 1-3 (5-6)
Hurricane 1-3 (8-4)
Dixie 0-4 (7-7)

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