This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Kearns • Effort and experience are starting to come together for the Cyprus softball team, and the result is now likely to manifest itself in a region championship.

And how long has it been since that happened for the Pirates?

Well, first-year coach Kjera Miranda, after Tuesday's game, said she didn't know if it had ever taken place before.

"We were hungry for a title and we came out ready for this game. We came out with the mentality that we were down two runs," said Miranda, who is the third coach for the Pirates in the last three years.

Cyprus (16-3, 8-1) defeated Kearns by a 12-2 count and, more than likely, will do no worse than tie for the Region 6 championship. The Pirates and Murray both have only one loss in league play, to each other, and Cyprus closes with a doubleheader against Judge Memorial and a single game against Skyline — opponents that will be prohibitive underdogs to the Pirates.

Kearns (17-8-1, 7-4), on the other hand, was a different matter.

But the visitors jumped on the Cougars right away, with three runs in the first, and eventually forced an early end of the game via the 10-run mercy rule in the sixth.

A pair of juniors led the way for Cyprus as shortstop Daniele Sanchez socked two homers and pitcher Alexis Poulsen scattered six hits over her six innings of work.

Sanchez lifted a sacrifice fly to left in the first to drive in one run. Her shot to left in the third was just a little bit longer, a high drive that easily cleared the left-field fence, which drove in three runs for a 6-1 advantage.

In the sixth, Sanchez's second homer went to center and meant two more runs.

"It felt good," said Sanchez of her home runs. "The first one I thought was too high. Both of them (the pitches) were straight down the middle."

Meanwhile, Poulsen was holding up her end in the pitching circle — as she's done since she was a freshman.

Kearns got a solo homer off her in the second from Kalena Aukusitino and Tristin Evans doubled home a run in the third, but Poulsen fed the Cougars a steady diet of rise balls mixed in with a very effective change-up.

"She's got a fantastic rise ball that keeps the girls off balance — and she throws that change-up," Kearns coach Ken Isakson said. "She's not afraid to throw a change-up on the first pitch."

"Her fastball, it's hard for them to get a good piece of it, so we've actually limited the amount of change-ups that she throws," Miranda said. "We don't actually use the off-speed quite as much." —

Storylines

• Cyprus' Daniele Sanchez hits two homers and drives in six runs in her 3-for-4 day at the plate.

• Kalena Aukusitino smacks a solo homer to lead off the second for Kearns, which also had an RBI double from Tristin Evans in the third.

• Pirates pitcher Alexis Poulsen strikes out six over her six innings of work for the win.