SPANISH FORK - Manti's McKenzie Hatch doesn't see pressure as a bad thing. The junior sees it as an opportunity.
    When it was time to swing the bat or hurl the ball, Hatch had plenty of heroics in waiting. The always reliable Hatch made sure her Templars wouldn't go down in disappointment Saturday afternoon, as she bashed a full-count home run early on and held American Leadership Academy to zero unearned runs in a late pitching appearance to lead Manti to a 5-4 win in the second round of the Class 2A state tournament at Spanish Fork Softball Complex.
    Earlier in the day, the Templars had no troubles against first-round challenger Millard and won 11-0. They will face Juab, the 4-3 winner against
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Templar vs. American Leadership softball
Parowan, on Friday.
    "McKenzie handles pressure really well," Manti coach Susan Hatch said. "She does a good job with it. It's almost like she strives for it."
    The close win so early in the double-elimination tournament tells the Templars that chasing their four consecutive championships isn't going to be easy. In fact, two of the other three second-round games also were decided by only a run.
    But they're not too worried with having McKenzie, who is Susan's niece. Actually, the Templars always had a good feeling about capturing a win against ALA, a team Susan said could come back into state contention through the losers' bracket. That good feeling was there even when ALA's
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Amanda Tuttle connected on a rise ball from Kaitlyn Hatch for a solo homer to left-center field and a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
    That's because McKenzie had her own solo homer in her first at-bat to almost the exact spot as Tuttle's. And because of a fielding error, Tauni McFarlane scored to give the Templars a 2-1 edge in the second.
    But with ALA's Tuttle scoring off a McKenna Poulter ground out and having her Wolves produce two more runs on one hit and two errors in the sixth, ALA went up 3-2 at the top of the sixth.
    At this point, Susan said, "We had been popping all day long. They were hitting but their hits were just in the air . . . I knew that if we get some hits on the ground, we could score."
    Then McKenzie got on base on an error, McFarlane knocked McKenzie in with a double and Ashley Hunt finished it off with an RBI triple, enough for the 5-3 advantage in Manti's final plate appearance. And it was enough for McKenzie, who came in to relief pitch in the sixth, to put down the final three ALA batters in order.
    San Juan 3, Beaver 2: Gennera Nielson knocked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth with a double. She also struck out 15 batters, helping the Broncos advance to the semifinals against Grand, a surprise in the tournament.
    Juab 4, Parowan 3: The Wasps jumped to a three-run lead after two frames and contained a fourth-inning rally from Parowan to eventually take the win. Juab's Kiersten Blauer finished with six whiffs.
    csun@sltrib.com
   
   
   Class 2A State Softball Championships
   
    Friday's Games
    At Spanish Fork Softball Complex
    Winners' Bracket
    Juab vs. Manti, 4 p.m.
    Grand vs. San Juan, 4 p.m.
    Losers' Bracket
    Richfield vs. Enterprise, 1 p.m.
    Millard vs. Beaver, 1 p.m.
    South Summit vs. ALA, 1 p.m.
    South Sevier vs. Parowan, 1 p.m.
   
   
    Manti 5, ALA 4
   
    * Manti junior McKenzie Hatch finishes her second-round game against ALA by hitting 2-for-2 and allowing no earned runs in the final two innings of relief pitching.
    * The Templars come back from a two-run deficit in their final at-bat with two runs on a double from Tauni McFarlane and a triple from Ashley Hunt.