Lehi Softball

Timp Sports Weekly

March 16, 2010

Publisher's Message

For this week, we look at stories of two Lehi softball games and a stalemated battle between the Lehi Pioneers and the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings. Let's get to those stories.

Dean Von Memmott

Publisher

deanmemmott@hotmail.com

LP Loners Get Busted for Illegal Pitch, Giving Lehi Pioneers 5-4 Win in 9-Inning Preseason Opener

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

In a preseason softball opener Lehi on March 9, the Lone Peak Knights, AKA the Loners, got busted for an illegal pitch, which enabled the Lehi Pioneers to hop away with a 5-4 win during the nine-inning thriller.

As in recent games between the Pioneers and the Loners, the March 9 contest went down as a thriller. Even though only bragging rights were involved in the game, the two teams played intensely like squads battling for their region's sole remaining state playoff spot.

Pioneer Aly White scored the game's first run on an error in the bottom of the first.  With Lehi's Ariel Zimmerman and Loner Raven King engaged in a deadlocked pitching duel,  no further scoring occurred until the top of the sixth. Hitting a one-out single into right during Inning 6, Loner Lauren Gourdin soon got singled in by Kenzie St. Clair to tie the game at one.

In the bottom of the sixth, Pioneer Whitney Cook singled into left, but she soon got pinched in a fielder's choice play at second. That play ruined Lehi's chance for winning the game without having to go with the Loners into extra innings.

In the top of the seventh, Zimmerman fanned three straight Knight batters. King retaliated by forcing three straight Pioneers to get out. 

In the tip of the eighth, Lone Peak's Allyse Chipman got thrown out in a fielder's choice play at home, but King singled in Kaylee Keer to spark a three-run rally. It saw Kristen Nelson hit a two-out, two-run single that could have put the game away for the Loners. 

During the bottom of the inning, though, Areil Zimmerman singled in her little sister Taylor Zimmerman on one out.  The younger Zimmerman narrowly beat a throw to home plate, getting the momentum going for Lehi. Bree McBride slugged a two-run single that forced the game into a ninth inning, 

In the top of it, Ariel Zimmerman struck out three straight Loners to keep Rachel Schoonover stranded on base. In the bottom of the inning, a Kellie Jo Jenkins single moved Pioneer Annie Nielsen to third.  When Cassi Gray took her turn at bat, King delivered a pitch that plate umpire Bob Krommenhoek declared to be illegal. The violation let Nielsen walk home for the winning run. With it giving Lehi something to croak about for another year, Pioneer players rushed out from their dugout into light rain to celebrate the heart-stopping win. At the same time, Lehi fans honked their car horns joyously.

Lehi coach Leslie Warr said, "They showed great determination as they played marvelous defense against Lone Peak during all nine innings. When we made that squeeze play at home in the eighth, that boosted our momentum."

Ariel Zimmerman's Pitching a No-Hitter Earns a 13-0 Win Over Grantsville Lady Goat Ropers March 11

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

Throwing a no-hitter in a non-league softball game at home March 11, a Lehi Pioneer pitcher enabled her team to win 13-0 over the Grantsville Cowgirls, AKA the Lady Goat Ropers.

The five-inning affair saw Aly White score the first Pioneer run in the bottom of the first. The Lady Goat Ropers' hopes of keeping the game close got washed away by a five-run rally that Lehi staged in the second inning. In the third, the Pioneers tacked on four more runs, and in the fourth, they scored another three.

Knocking in four runs for the afternoon, Kelly Jo Jenkins almost went completed a cycle. During her three times at bat, she slugged a single, a double, and a triple. Going 3-3 at the plate, White scored three runs while Bree McBride and Annie Nielsen each slugged a single for the Pioneers.

Lehi Coach Leslie Warr said, "Ariel's a pretty tough, pitcher. She had won a no-hitter last year, but I can't remember which team it was that she took down in that game."

Ferocious PG Vikings and Lehi Pioneers Battle to 2-2 Draw in March 12 Exhibition Soccer Game

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

In a non-league, nighttime game at Pleasant Grove March 12, the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings battled the Lehi Pioneers to a 2-2 draw.

Pleasant Grove Coach Erik Bayles said, "We can always expect a tough game against Lehi. My young guys never gave up in the game. They battled back when Lehi pulled ahead 2-1. Lehi is always great a squad. I won't be surprised if they win the 4-A title this year."

Lehi Coach Steve McMurdie said, "We had decided before the game that we would not play in overtime, if the game ended in a tied score at the conclusion of regulation. With this being preseason, we didn't want any guys to get hurt. We had a lot of attacks that we didn't finish."

The Pioneers spent most of the game on the Ferocious Vikings' end of the field. However, Lehi didn't score the game's first goal. Thirty-three minutes  into game, Viking Winston Sorhaitz dribbled into Lehi's crowded penalty box and scored a goal.

Pleasant Grove enjoyed its 1-0 lead until Lehi's Austin "Powers" Tuckett scored the tying goal on a kick from inside the penalty box. Pioneer Zach Stanley broke the tie a short time later. The Pioneers stayed ahead 2-1 until the last five minutes when Ryan Fonseca, a Ferocious Viking, evened the game at two.