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Spanish Fork • Enterprise coach Duane Wallin waited patiently for the correction. The umpire needed to change his original call. The play was bang-bang at the plate and appeared to be a game-saving out for South Sevier.
The upset-minded Rams were tied with Class 2A's second-ranked Wolves in the bottom of the eighth inning when Jessica Farnsworth ripped a bullet into play, sending Kindy Christensen racing for the winning run. The throw and Christensen met instantaneously and the umpire signaled the out, but the Christensen's elbow had knocked the ball out of the catcher's mitt.
It only delayed the celebration once the umpire realized the mistake.
Game over. Disaster avoided.
The Wolves escaped with a dramatic 7-6 win in eight innings to secure a spot in Friday's quarterfinals against defending champion South Summit at 10 a.m.
"I don't know where [the umpire] was looking, but I'm glad they got it right," Wallin said on Thursday at Spanish Fork Complex. "I'm glad my third-base coach rolled the dice and sent her. We like to play aggressive like that."
The Rams nearly pulled off their second straight upset of the day after knocking off Gunnison in the first round. South Sevier plated two runs in the sixth inning, which saw seven batters approach the plate, after falling behind 5-3 when Enterprise's Lacy Drake homered in the third and two errors furnished two runs in the fourth.
Then, in the top of the eighth, the Rams took the lead on a bases-loaded walk.
"Just find a way to win," Wallin said when asked what he told his team heading into the bottom of the eighth. "Keep working at it until we find a way to win."
Farnsworth said the team never panicked, and it showed.
"We [said], 'Hey, this is our game. We've fought all year for this. There's nobody whose going to take this away from us. We have to dig down deep, and this is ours.' "
South Summit 13, Duchesne 5 • The defending champions delivered a resounding message to the rest of the bracket: The championship still travels through Kamas. The Wildcats established an early lead on 2A North No. 1 Duchesne in the second frame after Nicole Fitzgerald reached safely on a fielding error and Blair Richmond beat out the throw on an ensuing sacrifice-bunt. That positioned seven-hole hitter Samantha Rogers to crank a three-run bomb deep into center field.
Manti 13, Parowan 3 • The top-ranked Templars registered their 17th consecutive victory with relative ease, including receiving assistance from the Rams, who committed several mistakes. Leading by two in the third inning, Manti plated five runs, with four occurring after Parowan committed two fielding errors, to blow the gates open.
Beaver 7, Grand 2 • After routing Altamont in the first round, Beaver continued its hot hitting to upset Grand, which spent most of the season ranked in the top five. After combining to score three runs in the first two innings, the Beavers exploded for three runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
2A softball quarterfinals
Friday, double-elimination
• South Summit (24-5) vs. Enterprise (23-5), 10 a.m.
• Beaver (19-8) vs. Manti (22-3), 10 a.m.