Emery softball advanced to the quarterfinals after its win over South Summit on Thursday in Spanish Fork, the home of the 3A State Championship. An early Katelyn Nielson home run gave the Lady Spartans the lead, and a big fifth inning solidified the 8-4 victory.
The Spartans advanced from their pod win over Canyon View 8-5 last Saturday. South Summit took the 11-10 victory over Ogden to advance and face Emery.
The Wildcats jumped on the board, scoring one run in the top of the first. In the bottom of the frame, with TaiLynn Minchey and Kali Jensen on Nielson would dig in and send her third pitch over the wall in center, bringing everyone home and giving Emery the 3-1 lead.
Things got pretty quiet for both teams until the bottom of the fourth, when Elly Stilson came up to bat with one out and hit one to center to bring Nielson home. Bailey Luke came up next, sending her first pitch to left field, giving Stilson the chance to score. Two batters later, Minchey stepped in with another first pitch single to center that brought Kaitlyn Thomas and Luke in for the score, and then Kali Jensen came up next and smacked a single to center, bringing Minchey home and moving the score to 8-1.
The Wildcats’ rally in the fifth came up short, putting the score at 8-4. They were able to get a couple of base runners on in the top of the seventh, but the Spartans’ defense dug in and claimed the win to advance to the quarterfinal.
Nielson came up big for Emery, going 2-3 with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Jensen went 2-3 at the plate with a run and one RBI, and Minchey was 1-2 with a pair of runs and RBIs in the win.
Lake went the distance, getting the complete game win with four earned runs on seven hits and striking out 10.
Emery gets the rest of Thursday off and will step on the field Friday morning to face the Grantsville Cowboys.
Grantsville sits at 22-8 overall and holds the No. 1 spot in the RPI.
This game could be a revenge game for the Spartans. Last season, the Cowboys handed the Spartans a loss in the semi-finals, causing them to fight back into the Championship game, falling just short 11-8.
Game time is set for 10:00 a.m. in Spanish Fork.