4A state softball playoffs: Region 9 round two roundup

No. 11 Desert Hills at No. 6 Crimson Cliffs, 4A state softball playoffs, Crimson Cliffs High School, Washington city, Utah, May 15, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

SPANISH FORK — The 4A state softball tournament hits Spanish Fork on Wednesday with three Region 9 teams remaining.

Dixie softball at Canyon View, 4A playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, May 14, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Canyon View, Snow Canyon and Crimson Cliffs remain the last Southern Utah teams standing in a field of eight. They’ll play in a double-elimination tournament through Saturday in their bids for a state title. The full bracket is available here.

In the best-of-three second round of playoffs, four Region 9 teams watched their season end. No. 15 Hurricane was swept by No. 2 Bear River, and No. 12 Cedar fell against No. 5 Ridgeline. No. 6 Crimson sent Region 9 foe No. 11 Desert Hills packing, as did No. 4 Canyon View to No. 11 Dixie.

Following are recaps from the second round of the state softball playoffs.

Snow Canyon gets deja vu in routs of Cedar Valley

The Warriors punched their ticket to Spanish Fork by topping Cedar Valley twice by the score of 19-4.

No. 14 Cedar Valley at No. 3 Snow Canyon, 4A state softball playoffs, Snow Canyon High School, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

Game one lasted just three innings as Snow Canyon scored nine in the bottom of the first and 10 in the second. Cedar Valley entered the third with a lone run but rallied for three in the third, coming within a single score of avoiding the 15-run mercy rule.

All Warriors recorded hits for Snow Canyon except Jenna Thorkelson, who contributed instead by controlling the Aviators from the circle. She struck out three in the three defensive innings.

Emma Bingham went 2-for-2, missing a cycle by a single and double. She drove in four runs. Tyler Mooring went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs. Syd McCaul also recorded three hits.

Game two lasted four innings before the run rule was invoked. Kenna Staheli hit a walk-off single to score Erin Gunn. Thorkelson drove in five on three hits. She hit one of Snow Canyon’s six home runs in the game.

Mooring hit two home runs and pitched all four innings, striking out four.

Canyon View mercy rules Dixie twice

Laynee Anzalone twirled a two-hitter in game one to lead the Falcons to an 11-0 win.

Dixie softball at Canyon View, 4A playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, May 14, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Only Elle Anderson and Debra Tofi recorded hits for Dixie as Canyon View gradually pulled away, walking off with a 10-run mercy rule on a Payton Lister two-run homer in the sixth. It was Lister’s second home run of the game as she went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Each of the first five hitters in the Canyon View lineup recorded multiple hits, as did Hallie Potter out of the No. 8 spot.

Anzalone struck out nine in the win.

Game two lasted only three innings as Canyon View scored eight runs in both the first and third innings to win 17-2. Dixie took the lead on a Vanessa Scarborough home run in the top of the first, but Canyon View responded quickly against Tofi, Dixie’s starter. She walked five total and the defense committed five errors behind her to allow Canyon View to record seven more runs than they did hits.

Kenlee Clove, Tatum Millett and Potter each drove in three on two hits. Lister also had a pair of knocks.

Lister pitched 2.2 innings before turning it over to Anzalone for the final out.

Jayda Gleave scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.

Crimson Cliffs ends Desert Hills’ season

Hosting their first playoff series as a school, the Mustangs start the series with a 12-0 win after Malia Davis allowed just one hit and the offense’s performance followed suit.

No. 11 Desert Hills at No. 6 Crimson Cliffs, 4A state softball playoffs, Crimson Cliffs High School, Washington city, Utah, May 15, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

Laci Jones broke up the no-hit bid with a single in the fourth as Davis struck out four en route to the win. Abigail Swanson, Afton Roberts and Kya Burningham each recorded three hits and scored multiple runs. Roberts, Burningham and Emma Shakespear each hit home runs in the effort.

Crimson exploded with five runs in the bottom of the first and scored in each of their four turns at bat before the mercy rule was invoked in the fifth.

Game two wasn’t as smooth for the Mustangs, but they pulled away late with a 15-9 win.

Desert Hills took a 5-0 lead at the middle of the second. Janelle Jones set the early tone with an opposite field home run on the second pitch of the game. The Thunder scored two more runs in the first and two in the second.

Crimson got three back in the bottom of the second, but Desert Hills led by five by the middle of the fourth. Crimson Cliffs rallied to tie the game, capped by a little league grand slam by Abigail Swanson that knotted the score at 7-7.

No. 11 Desert Hills at No. 6 Crimson Cliffs, 4A state softball playoffs, Crimson Cliffs High School, Washington city, Utah, May 15, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

From there, Crimson scored three in the fifth and five more in the sixth to build out an eight-run lead. Desert Hills scored twice in their comeback bid but got no closer.

Lantz and Shakespear each went yard for Crimson with the latter hitting two out. Shakespear went 3-for-4 overall with four runs driven in. Ellie Herd went 2-for-4 and also had four RBIs. Davis started the game on the mound on her birthday but was relieved for McKenna Cahoon after one inning. Cahoon allowed just four hits over the final six innings.

Janelle Jones and Faith Baumgartner each had two hits and each hit home runs for Desert Hills. Mavanee Schmidt and Saidey Spencer combined for the pitching effort.

Cedar City News reporter Jeff Richards contributed to this report.

Hurricane’s offense stifled against Bear River

The No. 2 Bears held the Tigers to just four hits total in the series, taking game one 10-0 and game two 12-0. Riley Fox and Annie Hutchings each singled in game one, and Kaitlyn Rasmussen had both hits in game two. Game one lasted six innings before the 10-run rule while game two went five.

Cedar nearly upsets Ridgeline in game one, falls in two

No. 12 Cedar took No. 5 Ridgeline to the brink in game one before falling in extra innings, 8-7.

The Reds rallied for five runs in the top of the seventh to take a 7-6 lead into the bottom half, putting the Riverhawks just three outs away from dropping game one to the lower seed. Kodi Nelson hit a three-run homer for the go-ahead score and gave Cedar their first lead of the contest. They trailed 4-0 and battled all the way back.

Ridgeline got a game-tying home run of their own with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and walked it off in the eighth.

Nelson went 3-for-4 in the game with five RBIs. Haylee Campbell and Braylee Peterson each went 2-for-4.

In game two, Cedar played from ahead before ultimately succumbing, 14-4.

The Reds led 3-0 in the middle of the third before the Riverhawks rallied for four in the bottom half. After Cedar tied in the fourth, Ridgeline erupted for seven runs. They walked it off with three runs in the fifth.

Kaydee Anderson and Lexi Ludlow each had three hits for Cedar. Ludlow had a pair of RBIs.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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