As the Region 11 softball season nears its halfway point, one thing is for certain: it’s going to be a wild race to the finish.
The latest twist came Friday afternoon when Grantsville erupted for four runs in the third inning and survived two late bases-loaded situations to hold off Tooele for a 4-2 win.
The Cowboys’ victory gives them a half-game lead over Tooele and Stansbury for the top spot in the region standings.
“I’m really proud of them for the way they came out and played hard,” Grantsville coach Heidi Taylor said. “Their focus showed today.”
Grantsville (12-3, 3-1 Region 11) surged in front with one big inning and managed to hold on despite having only one other hit in the game. The Cowboys’ surge when Piper Bentley reached base on a fielding error by Tooele (12-4, 2-1) to lead off the bottom of the third. Sydney Barney followed by putting down a bunt right in front of the plate for a single, and Autumn Dzierzon hit a one-out single to right center to load the bases.
That brought Mariah Sweat to the plate for the Cowboys. Sweat, who had struck out against Buffaloes starter Kamryn Grover in the first inning, faced an 0-2 count before singling to right field to drive in Bentley and Barney for a 2-0 lead.
“I was a little nervous because I had just struck out before,” Sweat said. “I knew I needed to relax and I knew I was going to get a hit. I just felt confident about it. I knew that someone needed to step up and get us going.”
Dzierzon scored from third base on a groundout by Bailey Critchlow, and Sarah Sandberg drove in Sweat with a two-out double that bounced off the fence in center field.
“We have to be prepared to play each game,” Tooele coach Melanie Nelson said. “It wasn’t our day.”
The Buffaloes still had plenty of chances to get back into the game, but Barney and the Cowboys’ defense made it difficult. Alyssa Arslanian drew a one-out walk in the top of the fourth for Tooele, but Barney got Rylee Whitehouse to ground into a fielder’s choice and Alysia Roybal hit a hard liner to Grantsville second baseman Alivia McCluskey, who recovered in time to make the throw to first baseman Megan Cafarelli to end the inning.
Tooele broke up Barney’s no-hitter in the top of the fifth on Loryn Fonger’s leadoff single, and Izzy Nicholas followed two batters later with another base hit. Payton Hammond hit a hard ground ball to Critchlow at third base, but Nicholas beat the throw to second to keep the inning alive. However, the Cowboys avoided any damage when Tristyn Crofts hit a fly ball to Sandberg, leaving the bases loaded.
“I was really confident in our team,” Sweat said. “We worked really hard this week and we knew that it was going to be a tough game. I was very confident and all the other girls were very confident, and I think that was a really big part of getting out of those innings.”
The Buffs loaded the bases against Barney again in the top of the sixth, as Roybal, Fonger and Siearrah Anderson hit back-to-back-to-back singles with two outs in the inning. Nicholas hit another hard groundball to Critchlow, but Anderson beat the throw to second base to allow courtesy runner Makenna Baker to score from third.
However, the bases were left loaded once again when Lexis Bolliger grounded out to McCluskey for the third out.
“We didn’t make adjustments at the plate,” Nelson said. “We weren’t focused individually and collectively as a team, and Grantsville was. The moment you lose focus, these teams will just pick you apart, and that’s what they did.”
Tooele scraped together another run in the top of the seventh, as three consecutive singles by Crofts, Arslanian and Whitehouse resulted in Crofts scoring with one out. Barney then got Roybal to line out to Sandberg, and Fonger’s liner up the middle bounced off Barney to Sandberg, who threw to Cafarelli to end the game.
“The resiliency that we saw today was just what we were looking for,” Taylor said. “That’s a team that fought hard. That game could have gone either way, and these girls earned it today.”
Barney was the only Grantsville player with multiple hits, going 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored. She allowed two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and two walks in seven innings to earn the win in the circle.
Fonger was 2-for-4 for Tooele, and also pitched three scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and three strikeouts in relief of Grover.
Grover was credited with the loss, allowing four runs on four hits — all in the third inning — with three strikeouts.
Tooele will play host to Bear River on Tuesday before opening the second half of region play Thursday at home against Ben Lomond.
“We’re back to the drawing board a little bit,” Nelson said. “We’ll refocus and we’ve got a big week [this week].”
Grantsville has a non-region game at home against Herriman on Wednesday. The Cowboys open the second half of the region season Friday at home against Bear River.