Region 9 softball: Desert Hills, Cedar and Snow Canyon post wins

Written by Jeff Richards
April 10, 2019
Faith Baumgartner is greeted by teammates after hitting the team's fourth homer in the bottom of the first, Pine View at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, April 9, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Desert Hills softball team put on an impressive hitting display Tuesday as they overpowered the visiting Pine View Panthers, 15-5.

Desert Hills’ Addi Betts hits a home run in the bottom of the first inning, Pine View at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, April 9, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

The Lady Thunder belted four home runs in the bottom of the first, an inning in which they also hit three singles and drew six walks. Hitting dingers were Lexi Green, Addi Betts, Codi Olds and Faith Baumgartner.

Each team added two more runs in the second inning. Pine View tacked on two more in the fifth, after which Desert Hills added one to invoke the 10-run mercy rule that ended the game in the bottom of the fifth.

Olds pitched all five innings for Desert Hills, giving up five runs on four hits while walking eight and striking out four. The Lady Thunder committed three errors in the field.

Starting pitcher Sage Stoker took the loss for Pine View. Reliever Audrey Lester pitched the final three innings for the Lady Panthers.

In other Region 9 action Tuesday:

Cedar 5, Hurricane 0

With blustery winds blowing toward the batters in the box, the Cedar Lady Reds were unable to hit any long balls at Hurricane Tuesday.

“I think the wind was to our advantage,” said Hurricane head coach Chris Hurst. “It was still 0-0 after five innings. Chantell Pearson did a great job pitching for us today.”

An infield error with one out in the sixth helped Cedar get its first run, as Japrix Weaver scored on the play. Becca Boyer later hit a single that brought in two more runs to give the Lady Reds a 3-0 lead after six.

Hurricane pitcher Chantell Pearson delivers a pitch, Cedar at Hurricane, Hurricane, Utah, April 9, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Cedar tacked on two more insurance runs in the seventh, thanks to singles by Denim Henkel and Kelsi Oldroyd.

Cedar head coach Chris Weaver said it wasn’t until late in the game that his players started hitting line drives and grounders, rather than fly balls.

“I don’t think we hit a ground ball until the fourth inning,” he said. “We just flew out and the kids were undisciplined today. They just hit it hard in the air and they just floated right to people.”

“It was good for the kids to see that you just can’t hit a home run every pitch, that you have to hit a line drive for it to work.”

Kenzie Waters pitched the entire game for Cedar, allowing no runs on three hits while walking one and striking out nine. Pearson went the distance for Hurricane, allowing five hits and striking out six.

Snow Canyon 4, Canyon View 2

At Snow Canyon, the Lady Warriors trailed Canyon View 1-0 after three innings, but managed to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jael Wilde drove in Snow Canyon’s first run with a bunt single that scored Emma Bingham, who’d reached base on a fielder’s choice play. Alex Deming then reached on an error, bringing in another run.

Canyon View at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah, April 9, 2019 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

Snow Canyon’s Kambrie Stuart hit a solo homer in the fifth to account push the lead to 4-1. Canyon View was able to get in one run in the top of the seventh and also managed to get the potential tying run on base, but relief pitcher Jenna Thorkelson came in and was able to get the final batter to ground out to second to end the game.

Payten Jensen was the winning pitcher for the Lady Warriors, allowing two runs on four hits while walking four and striking out 14. She pitched all but the game’s final out.

Jordan Nielson went the distance in the circle for the Lady Falcons and took the loss, giving up six hits while walking zero and striking out three.

Friday’s schedule is as follows: Pine View will play at Snow Canyon at 3:30 p.m., Dixie plays at Cedar at 4 p.m. and Hurricane plays at Canyon View at 4 p.m.

Updated April 10, 4 p.m. to include 15 photos of Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon game to the story gallery.

Region 9 softball standings (as of April 9)

Cedar 6-0 (14-2)
Desert Hills 5-1 (13-4)
Snow Canyon 4-2 (11-4)
Canyon View 3-3 (11-4)
Pine View 2-4 (6-6)
Hurricane 1-5 (8-5)
Dixie 0-6 (7-9)

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, 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 two young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

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

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