This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Copper Hills senior Ashlee Anderson hit for the cycle Tuesday afternoon with two home runs and seven RBIs in the Grizzlies' 18-7 dismantling of Clearfield in their 5A first-round playoff game.
Anderson went 5-for-5 from the plate with a double in the first inning, a single in the third, a home run in the fourth, another home run in the sixth and a triple in the seventh.
After all of that base running, she had no idea what she had accomplished.
"Not really," Anderson said of the cycle. "I just kinda hit, that's all I wanted to do … but I know I had two homers."
The senior leader didn't have much to say after her outstanding performance, only what she and her teammates expect to do throughout the rest of the tournament: "We just came here to freaking win."
Anderson had plenty of help at the plate. The Grizzlies had 19 hits, including a triple from Allyssa Garcia and a home run from Mikelle Magalago.
Not to be overlooked, the Copper Hills defense also did their part in stopping several Clearfield rallies. The Falcons stranded 12 baserunners, including seven in the final three innings thanks in large part to the efforts of Grizzlies reliever McKenzie "Ice" Bergener.
In the final three innings, Bergener was faced with runners in scoring position with one out or less in each inning. Thanks to her pitching and the defense at her back, the Grizzlies only allowed three runs to score in that span.
"It's tough to have the right mindset in those situations," Bergener said. "You have to know that if you throw enough strikes that you can get through it … and I love having this defense behind me when that happens."
Copper Hills coach Jentry Johnson acknowledged while her defense stiffened today when they needed to, they are a work in progress.
"We've been working on the defense all year long, and it hasn't been pretty all year long," Johnson said. "We just work on 'next play, next play, next play' so that we're always confident looking forward."
And while it may be hard to find areas to improve on after an 11-run victory, Johnson still has something to say before her team faces defending 5A champion Lehi on Thursday.
"We just need to be consistent," Johnson said. "We have ups and we have downs, but if we can stay consistent and build upon every game then we'll be fine … we've been really focused lately and we came out ready today." —
Schedule
5A softball
First round, Tuesday
• Riverton 11, Davis 1
• Fremont 8, Cottonwood 1
• Sky View 9, Bingham 4
• Syracuse 5, Herriman 4
• Copper Hills 18, Clearfield 7
• Lehi 4, Layton 0
• West 14, Pleasant Grove 2
• Taylorsville 7, Mountain Crest 1
Second round, Thursday (all games 4 p.m.)
• Riverton at Fremont
• Sky View at Syracuse
• Copper Hills at Lehi
• Taylorsville at West