By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
SPRINGVILLE – The Springville Lady Tigers hosted the 5A Area 12 tournament on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week, taking on the Fairview Aggies and Hayden Wildcats on Tuesday and then competing in a rematch with Hayden on Thursday in the final game. Springville won all 3 games in blowout fashion, by a combined score of 26-5.
Springville Tigers Softball. 2023 5A Area 12 Champions.
Photo by: SHS Softball
In the first game, the Tigers beat Fairview 10-0. Springville came out of the gate strong with 4 runs in the first inning and then 3 more in the next two innings. The fourth and fifth would be scoreless before the Tigers put 3 more on the board to make it 10-0. Shelby Hathcock owned the mound in game 1, getting the shutout with just 2 hits allowed while striking out 11 Aggie batters. Kaylee Sue Martin led the Tigers at the plate with 4 hits in 4 at-bats with 3 RBI.
“We played well defensively which gave us offensive momentum,” said Springville coach JP Taruc. “As a team, we hit the ball well. Kaylee Sue Martin went 4-4 with 3 RBI. Our great mindset at the plate resulted in 10 runs. Shelby Hathcock pitched well.”
The second game would be against the Hayden Wildcats with Georgia Chancellor at the mound for the Tigers. Springville got off to a somewhat slower start in this one, scoring 1 in the first and 2 in the second while not scoring in the third and getting just 1 run in the fourth. All of this while continuing to play great defense and shutting out the Wildcats thus far in the game. In the fifth, the bats got hot for Springville and they scored 4 runs before allowing Hayden their only run in the seventh inning, picking up the 8-1 victory to advance to the final round of the tournament. Chancellor would go the distance, allowing 3 hits and 1 run while sitting down 8 batters.
“Our great defensive mindset continued against Hayden,” said Coach Taruc. “We played well defensively throughout the game. Georgia Chancellor pitched well, striking out 8 and giving up only 1 earned run. Our offense helped the outcome by producing 8 runs. I am extremely proud of the girls for playing well on the first day in May. We had a great mindset throughout the tournament and we played as one.”
After taking a break on Wednesday, the Tigers would take on the Wildcats in the final round of the tournament. With a win, Springville would become the area champions but, with a loss, there would be another game between these two teams. This time, Hayden would show a bit more fight, but the result would ultimately be the same.
Hayden put 2 runs on the board in the top of the first inning and held Springville scoreless in the bottom. The teams would trade places in the second as Springville got 2 runs and Hayden was unable to score. Both teams put up a run in the third and Hayden took a 4-3 lead in the fourth. In the fifth, the Tigers would tie the game at 4 with 1 run before putting up 4 in the sixth to seal the game and the area championship for the Springville Tigers. Hathcock started the game and pitched to the halfway point before handing the ball off to Chancellor to finish it out and get the win. Combined they allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and struck out 5 batters. Emmy Leopard and Riley Ruple led at the plate for the Tigers with Leopard going 2-3 from the plate and driving in 3 RBI and Ruple mimicking those numbers with 2 of her RBI coming on a shot over the right field fence in the bottom of the second inning.
“I am extremely proud of my girls for battling being down early 2-0 to Hayden,” said Coach Taruc. “It was a back-and-forth game until the sixth. We were able to put some hits together and secure 4 extra runs. I am proud of Shelby and Georgia pitching as a tandem to get us the win. Furthermore, we still have room to improve. However, we played as one which helped us win area.”
The Tigers improve to 35-7-1 on the season heading into the state playoffs later this week.
