Cedar pounds way to pair of big softball wins as Canyon View drops two in a row

Cedar High's Dream Weaver hits a single in the third inning vs. Hurricane, Cedar City, Utah, April 5, 2018 | Photo by Jeff Richards, Cedar City News/St. George News

CEDAR CITY — The two Region 9 high schools in Cedar City – Cedar and Canyon View – played back-to-back midweek games Wednesday and Thursday, with the Lady Reds of Cedar winning both of their contests handily and the Lady Falcons losing both of theirs.

Cedar 12, Canyon View 1

First, the two cross-town rivals met at Cedar’s home field Wednesday afternoon, the middle day of Iron County School District’s weeklong spring break.

Cedar jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and went on to beat Canyon View 12-1 in six innings. The Lady Reds belted four home runs during the game, including two by senior Dream Weaver and one apiece by Pua Johnson and Denim Henkel.

Bryton Holyoak pitched the entire game for Cedar, scattering five hits and allowing one run while striking out four batters.

Cedar 10, Hurricane 0

The following afternoon, Cedar hosted the Hurricane Tigers. Once again, the Lady Reds showcased their offensive prowess as they coasted to a 10-0 shutout win over six innings.

Cedar High third baseman Amanda Cardon (center) appears to throw out Hurricane’s Haven Smith at first base, as second baseman Allie Meisner has already caught the ball in her glove. However, Smith was called safe by the umpire on the play. Cedar City, Utah, April 5, 2018 | Photo by Jeff Richards, Cedar City News/St. George News

Cedar’s first two batters of the game reached base after getting hit by pitches, but leadoff hitter Allie Meisner was subsequently thrown out trying to steal. A couple batters later, cleanup hitter Pua Johnson hit a two-run homer over the fence, bringing in herself and Dream Weaver and giving the Lady Reds an early 2-0 lead.

Cedar scored another run in the second inning and two more in the third, capitalizing on a couple Hurricane fielding errors.

In the bottom of the fourth, Weaver hit a double with one out, scoring Meisner, who had walked. Henkel then hit a towering blast over the left field wall, bringing in two more runs and padding the Lady Reds’ lead to 8-0.

Neither team scored in the fifth inning, and Hurricane went three up, three down in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, Meisner, Weaver and Henkel led off with three straight singles, to score one run. Johnson was intentionally given first base, loading up the bases with no outs and a 9-0 lead and Sage Oldroyd batting.

However, Weaver scored on a passed ball, making it 10-0 and ending the game at that moment, as the mercy rule went into effect when the 10-run threshold was reached.

Junior Kenzie Waters pitched the entire game for Cedar, striking out six. The Lady Reds finished with 11 hits.

Hurricane saw several of its own runners reach base either by hit or error, but could not get any runs across the plate. Freshman pitcher Chantelle Pearson took the loss for the Tigers.

“We got some hits, but we just couldn’t string anything together,” Hurricane head coach Ryan Smith said.

Cedar head coach Chris Weaver said he was pleased with his team’s performance in the two victories on successive days this week.

“Our pitching was solid both days,” he said. “Bryton did great yesterday, and Kenzie was great today. We’re going to need both pitchers to stay strong and competitive throughout the rest of the season.”

Weaver said he hopes his team will stay motivated to keep winning. “We’ve had a great first half of the season so far, but the next half we need to keep doing the same. We can’t rest. Everyone else is getting better, and we need to also.”

Snow Canyon 21, Canyon View 1

Snow Canyon pitcher Payten Jensen fires a pitch as Canyon View’s Mackinzi Whitehair prepares to steal second, Cedar City, Utah, April 5, 2018 | Photo by Jeff Richards, Cedar City News/St. George News

At Canyon View Thursday, the visiting Snow Canyon Lady Warriors put on an impressive offensive display, rolling to a 21-1 win over the Lady Falcons over four innings.

Snow Canyon jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning, punctuated by a two-run homer by Sydney McCaul that cleared the center field fence.

Also hitting home runs for Snow Canyon during the contest were Natalie Gunn, Megan Rodgers and Kambrie Stewart.

All told, the Lady Warriors racked up 20 hits and left only two runners on base during the contest.

“We made great contact at the plate,” Snow Canyon head coach Tracee Heaton said.

Pitcher Payten Jensen went the distance, striking out six and picking up the win for Snow Canyon.

“”We’ve been working really hard in practice on the little things and it really showed today,” Heaton added. “Canyon View hit the ball hard, and we made some great plays. Jael Wilde made some great plays at short, including a backhand in the hole and a diving catch on a short fly ball behind third base.”

Canyon View, after winning its first two region games, has now lost two in a row. The Lady Falcons host Desert Hills on April 10 for their next region game.

In the only remaining Region 9 softball game this week, Pine View plays at Dixie Friday at 4 p.m. Here’s a look at the current region standings as the season nears its midway point:

Region 9 standings (region, overall)

  1. Cedar 5-0, 11-5
  2. Desert Hills  4-1, 13-2
  3. Snow Canyon 3-2, 9-5
  4. Canyon View 2-2, 3-5
  5. Hurricane  2-2, 9-3
  6. Pine View  0-4, 5-9
  7. Dixie  0-5, 1-12

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