The 2-A High School softball tournament was played last week in St. George and the Manti Templars defeated San Juan 5-2 in the championship game to claim the title. Manti was led throughout the by their outstanding pitching and tenacious defense. Their attacking offense was also pretty impressive.
Manti, Millard, San Juan and Enterprise all won their first two games of the tournament to advance to the semifinals. Enterprise was the odds on favorite to grab the state title while San Juan was the defending titleholder. In the semifinals, Manti defeated Millard 10-6 and Enterprise defeated San Juan 6-3.
Manti defeated Enterprise 6-4 as the Wolves absorbed a surprise loss that seemed to shake them up. Manti had earlier defeated Rowland Hall 17-2 and Grand 17-3. San Juan defeated Enterprise 6-3 to return to the title game only to lose as Manti had their second title in four years.
Emery, who had finished second in region 15 behind San Juan, had been playing good ball prior to traveling to St. George but the Lady Spartans lost their opening game to Millard 11-7. Emery rebounded with a win over Kanab 9-2 only then to leave the tournament with a loss to Gunnison by the score of 10-5.
Against Millard, Emery scored three times in the first inning to lead 3-1. Emery scored once in the second inning while Millard scored three times in the third inning to tie the score. Emery added two runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth inning but Millard had scored six runs in the fifth inning to break open the close game.
Shandee Jewkes, Jeridi Price and Ashton Bell each had two base hits in the game while Jolynn Jennings, Bryton Hess, Jaiden Huntington and Whitney Roper each had one.
Against Kanab, Emery scored three times in the first inning, once in the second and third innings and four times in the fourth inning while holding Kanab to a single run in the third and sixth innings.
Price and Bell each had three hits in the game with Jewkes having two. Jennings, Roper, Auminee Bennett and Kaitlyn Thomson each had one base hit.
Against Gunnison, the Bulldogs scored six times in the first inning and then held on for the win. Emery scored twice in the third inning, once in the fifth inning and twice more in the sixth inning while Gunnison would score once in the fourth, once in the fifth and twice in the sixth to win the game. Jennings and Huntington each had a pair of base hits while Jewkes, Hess and Thomson each had one.
Thomson, Jennings and Roper are the only seniors on the team so expect the Lady Spartans to return a good team next season.
Lady Spartans state tournament action
"Shandee Jewkes tags a runner at first."