High school softball: Herriman breaks open game with six-run fourth inning in 6A playoffs

HERRIMAN — In the blink of an eye, Herriman broke open a 1-1 game.

The Mustangs erupted for six runs in the fourth inning en route to an 8-2 victory over Davis in the opening round of the 6A softball playoffs.

"I am way excited. I felt like Libby (Parkinson) pitched really great. We had bases loaded a couple times and we came through. Sydnee Hoffman hit a triple, we had a great home run by Abby Grundy. I'm satisfied, but I think we could do better," Herriman head coach Heidi McKissick said.

Herriman ace Libby Parkinson pitched a complete seven innings, allowing two runs, five hits and striking out eight.

"She did great. She really got ahead in the beginning of the batters and I think that really helped her, and then her defense helped her too," McKissick said.

The story of the game was the six-run fourth inning — one that was set up with some small ball by the Mustangs.

To open up the fateful frame, Alexis Smith and McKenna Gough drew walks, then Abby Grundy laid down a bunt to load the bases. Herriman would capitalize on the bases-loaded situation when Kaitlyn Slade smacked a two-RBI double to break the 1-1 tie and give the Mustangs a 3-1 lead. Sydnee Hoffman hit a two-RBI triple, Shalee Jensen hit an RBI single and then, during the next at-bat, scored from first base after stealing second due to a combination of heads-up baserunning and a number of Davis errors. By the end of the inning, Herriman was up 7-1 and well on their way to cruising to the second round.

"That's what I always say, it's contagious. I feel like our bunts, trying to attempt a bunt, kind of messed up the pitcher a little bit, too," McKissick said. "We read the defense, we read the situation, and we're just trying to score, move the runners."

Herriman opened up scoring on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon with an RBI single from Allie Madsen in the bottom of the first inning. In the top of the fourth inning, Davis responded with a Paige Elkins RBI single to knot things at one until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Mustangs scored six runs. Herriman added onto its lead in the bottom of the fifth inning as Grundy hit a solo home run to centerfield to push the Mustangs' lead to seven runs. The Darts got one back in the top of the sixth inning on a Maggie Miller RBI double.

All told, Herriman received seven RBIs from five different players. McKissick hopes that the team can continue getting contributions from everyone as the team advances in the tournament.

"If everyone can do it, then we're going to definitely get a lot of W's. If we can get everyone to contribute just small parts, even if it's like the RBI and we score off that," McKissick said.

from Deseret News http://bit.ly/2Eb2sih