Region 9 softball: Warriors, Flyers get big wins; Panthers rally comes up short

Canyon View vs. Pine View, Softball, St. George, Utah, May 1, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — With the No. 1 seed already clinched, Snow Canyon still came out and played well in a blowout of Hurricane, while Canyon View pushed Pine View to the brink of elimination with a win at Panther Field and Dixie won big and can get into a playoffs with a win Monday. Here’s a recap of the day’s action.

Snow Canyon 10, Hurricane 2

Mada Mooring, the Warriors speedy second baseman, pulled off one of softball’s rarities Thursday afternoon, hitting two home runs in the first inning against the Tigers to help the Lady Warriors cruise to the win and the region’s best record at 10-2.

snow-canyon-smhurricane-smMooring led off the bottom of the first with a first-pitch line-shot over the left field fence to make it 1-0. Her number came up a few minutes later in the same inning. With the score 4-0 and the bases loaded, she rocketed a 1-0 pitch deep and out over the center field fence to clear the bases and make it 8-0. That’s two homers and five RBIs in one inning for the junior.

Mada Mooring (28), file photo from Cedar vs. Snow Canyon, Softball, St. George, Utah, Apr. 17, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Mada Mooring (28), file photo from Cedar vs. Snow Canyon, Softball, St. George, Utah, Apr. 17, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Skylar Gates had a pair of RBIs and Camryn Johnson hit a home run as well for the Warriors, who improved to 15-4 overall on the season.

Hurricane played Snow Canyon even after the first inning and Jaiden Smith had a two-run homer for the Tigers, who fell to 7-16 on the season.

SC will host a playoff pod next Saturday with Morgan, Bear River and Carbon coming to St. George. The Warriors will face the Trojans and the Bears battle the Dinos. The losers will play after the two opening games, but the winners won’t play until May 14 when the 3A tourney resumes at the softball fields at Little Valley.

Stats: hursc5115

Canyon View 11, Pine View 7

Just three outs from the mercy rule being invoked, Pine View rallied for six runs in the fifth inning to make a game of it.

canyon-view-smPine-view-smTaylor Wheelwright slammed the door the rest of the way for Canyon View, which scored two runs in each of the game’s first four innings and then brought three home in the fifth.

Canyon View pitcher Taylor Wheelwright (8), Canyon View vs. Pine View, Softball, St. George, Utah, May 1, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Canyon View pitcher Taylor Wheelwright (8), Canyon View vs. Pine View, Softball, St. George, Utah, May 1, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Pine View made a run for it in the seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs. Junior second baseman Ashlyn Gubler stepped up and nailed a 1-1 pitch deep to center field. The fly ball put a charge into the stands as fans anticipated a possible tying grand slam. But the towering shot came up about 20 feet short and Falcons center fielder Shontae Clark cradled the final out for the region victory.

“We were real patient at the plate early in the game, but not so later in the game,” Canyon View coach Kyle DeLange said. “Pine View battled back, but I thought we settled down and played smart in the late innings on defense. Now we’re going to go get ready for the playoffs.”

Shontae Clark had a pair of hits and two RBIs for Canyon View. Pine View got three hits from Laikyn Paxman and Madi green knocked home two runs.

The win assures the Falcons of the No. 2 seed from Region 9 and they will travel to play in the Grantsville pod next Saturday. CV (10-12) will open the playoffs with Union, which placed third in Region 10 and has a record of 7-14.

Pine View now needs help to make the playoffs. The Panthers are 6-6 in region, a half-game behind Dixie for fourth place and the final playoff spot. The Flyers play a weather make-up game at Cedar Monday afternoon. If Dixie wins, the Flyers get the playoff spot and the No. 3 seed. If the Lady Reds win, Dixie and Pine View would have to face off in a play-in game sometime next week.

Dixie 12, Desert Hills 1

The Lady Flyers won their fourth consecutive game with the 10-run mercy killing of the Thunder.

dixie-smDesert-Hills-smSummer Simkins pitched the win and doubled for Dixie, which beat Pine View, Snow Canyon, Desert Hills and Hurricane in the last 10 days in making this playoff run.

Shortstop Aubri Challis had a triple and was part of a no-error defensive effort. One of the top defenses in the state, Dixie committed no errors in its last outing as well, a 17-0 win over Hurricane.

The Flyers have put themselves in prime position to clinch a playoff spot and have earned at least a play-in game. If Dixie beats Cedar Monday afternoon, it will be the third seed and travel to Juab’s pod and will battle Juan Diego in the first round.

If the Flyers lose to Cedar, they would play a play-in game next week against Pine View.

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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