High school softball: Tuesday’s 6A bracket play recap

6A bracket play, game two

Herriman 12, Mountain Ridge 2

Herriman faltered slightly in its first-round 10-7 win over Westlake, but it more than made up for it with a 12-2 mercy-rule win over Mountain Ridge to advance to day two.

Few teams in the state are as familiar with each other as Herriman and Mountain Ridge, and despite winning every in-season matchup, the Mustangs knew not to underestimate anyone.

“We’ve just told these girls that we can’t look past them,” said Herriman coach Heidi McKissick. “It’s hard to beat a team three times, but that’s what they did.”

It was all in the at-bats for Herriman, and it got going early.

The Mustangs started with four runs in the first inning, five in the second and then three in the fourth to put Mountain Ridge away.

Aspyn Hawes and Ayvree Egelund each had two RBIs and a home run, while Sofia Lancaster hit a perfect three-of-three for three RBIs.

“We asked them to be disciplined at the plate today and said, ‘let’s hit strikes, don’t help out the pitcher,’” McKissick said. “I think that proved it for today. We were disciplined, we had six walks.”

Herriman’s defense also only gave up two runs and four hits in the win.

Lehi 14, Westlake 6

Westlake took a 1-0 lead to start its 6A playoff game with Lehi, but the Pioneers answered with 13 total runs in the first and second innings for a 14-6 victory.

Ashlyn Petersen had three RBIs for Lehi with a home run. Brinlee Skidmore, Mya Maughan, Piper Emery and Brynlee Cook added two RBIs each.

“We’ve been hitting the ball really well,” said Lehi coach Tim Kennedy. “We were hitting the ball we had.”

The defense started rough for Lehi in its first game against Mountain Ridge and gave up four runs in the top of the second against Westlake.

However, the Sentinels recovered and only gave up a single run in the final five innings.

“The conversation was mostly about defense because in the first game against Mountain Ridge, we had three errors in the first inning,” Kennedy said. “We’re only going to go as far as our defense takes us.”

Riverton 7, Davis 4

Despite coming in as the top seed, No. 1 Riverton was shocked to start its 6A state tournament game with Davis.

The Darts were fresh off an 11-inning barnburner win over Copper Hills and kept the momentum going with an early 3-0 lead.

The Silverwolves responded with a four-run third inning to take the lead and rallied for a 9-4 win over the Darts.

“Super proud of their response,” said Riverton coach Whitley Haimin. “I feel like Davis is a good hitting team. They do a really good job at staying composed, and even though we were down, I feel like spirits never went down.”

Londyn Rentmeister hit the go-ahead home run in the third inning to go up 4-3 and finished with a team-high four RBIs.

“That kid’s so clutch,” Haimin said. “I think when you’re down majority of the game, then you get runners on and then hitting a home run to go ahead one is super awesome.”

Bingham 4, Copper Hills 3

It took an extra inning, but Bingham survived day one with a 4-3 win over Copper Hills. It was a cathartic win for the Miners after they lost both regular season matchups with Copper Hills.

“They’re a strong team and obviously their pitching has been strong,” said Bingham head coach Mikki Jackson. “They’ve just gotten better and better all through the season. So, to get through that is just a sigh of relief.”

The winning run came in the top of the eighth inning, and Bingham’s international tiebreaker runner Kava Haiola took advantage of an error from the Grizzlies.

Copper Hills overthrew a throw to first base, and Haiola got home for the 4-3 lead.

Still, Bingham’s defense had to hold strong in the bottom of the eighth. It went in, and got clean outs to send the Grizzlies home.

“Lily (Gritton) coming in and going, ‘I’m going to take care of this’ and getting the pop-ups and then giving them something that they can field was huge,” Jackson said. “That was just them all coming together at that moment with that composure that they’ve been working so hard to have.”

6A bracket play, game one

Riverton 15, Bingham 4

Riverton powered through with a strong mid-game performance, winning its 6A first-round game 15-4 against Bingham. Riverton’s offense was highlighted by a seven-run third inning, followed by another seven-run burst in the fourth. Kenzie Anderson, Londyn Rentmeister and Zoe Hazlett all contributed three RBIs, and Lexi Huntley secured the win with two strikeouts.

Davis 4, Copper Hills 3

Davis edged Copper Hills 4-3 in a tense 6A tournament game that went 11 innings. After Davis took an early lead, Copper Hills rallied to tie the game in the middle innings. However, Davis secured the win with a decisive run late, advancing in the 6A Playoffs.

Herriman 10, Westlake 7

Herriman triumphed over Westlake 10-7, fueled by Aspyn Hawes’ impressive performance at the plate with two home runs and four RBIs. Westlake initially pulled ahead with one run in the first inning, but Herriman responded with three runs in the first and widened its margin with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Despite a late three-run push by Westlake in the seventh, Herriman’s pitching, led by Sierra Prescott’s six strikeouts, managed to secure the victory.

Mountain Ridge 8, Lehi 6

Mountain Ridge defeated Lehi 8-6 in the 6A first round. Mountain Ridge jumped out to an early lead with five runs in the first inning, while Lehi rallied in the third to score four runs and closed the gap in the later innings. However, a three-run surge in the seventh inning secured the win for Mountain Ridge. The Sentinels’ Makenna Iacono and Hannah Dansie both recorded two RBIs.