Photo Courtesy of Emery High Softball
On Saturday, the Lady Spartan softball squad traveled to Morgan to take on the Trojans in the opening round of the 3A State softball championships. Emery was behind, but used a big three-run seventh inning to take the 10-8 victory to advance.
The first inning was quiet for both teams, and in the top of the second, Brielle Tuttle came up to the plate with one on and sent a home run over the left field wall, bringing Kembree Miller in to score to get the Spartans on the board 2-0. Morgan would take the lead back, and at the top of the third, Hadley Larsen would hit a ground ball, reaching on an error, as Elly Stilson would score to tie the game at 3-3. Morgan would hold Emery off the board in the fourth but would add two of their own to reclaim the lead at 5-3.
Stillson would start off the fifth inning with a single to get on base, and then one batter later Aleeyah Cowley would send a single to center field, bringing Stilson into score. Up next was Ellie Stoker, who sent a triple to right field, bringing Cowley in for the score, and then Bailey Luke would come in and send a double to center field, bringing Miller in for the score to give the Lady Spartans the lead 6-5. Hadley Grimm would come up for Emery with two outs and send a line drive to third, reaching on an error as Luke would come into score.
In the top of the seventh, the Lady Spartans found themselves down 8-7, and after Luke was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Tuttle returned to the plate and fired a double to right, driving in Luke to tie the score. Grimm was up next and sent another double to center, bringing home KashLynn Marshall, who had entered the game as a courtesy runner for Tuttle, to give the Spartans the lead. Stilson stepped into the batter’s box with two outs, and during her at bat, Grimm would score on a passed ball to give Emery the 10-8 lead. The Lady Spartans held the Trojans off the board in the seventh to take the win.
Tuttle had a day at the plate, going 3-4 with three RBIs and a run scored for Emery. Stilson was 3-5 with a pair of runs, Cowley went 2-4 with a run and an RBI, and Luke was 1-2 with two runs and an RBI in the win.
Allison Jeffs got the start on the mound, going 5 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs, seven earned, on 12 hits, and striking out four. Stoker closed the game out with one hit and two strikeouts.
Emery now advances to Spanish Fork on Tuesday, where they will face No. 1 Grantsville at 12:30 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season.
A win in the contest would advance them to the game at 5:00 p.m., where they would play the winner of the Logan/ Canyon View matchup. A loss, and they would face Carbon at 2:30 p.m.