Lehi Sports
Pioneer softball starts year 3-0
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi softball team dominated in the first three games of the new season last week, including consecutive victories over two of the state’s perennial powerhouse programs.
Mar. 3: Lehi 10, Cedar Valley 0
The Pioneers opened on the road against the Aviators. They scored two runs each in the first and third, plated five runs in the fourth, and pushed one more run across in the fifth to end the contest early after Cedar Valley was blanked yet again in the bottom half.
Junior Abbi Harroun got the start in the circle and claimed the win, striking out eight of the nine batters she faced in her three innings. Sophomore Jaxie Medler came on in relief and struck out four, walked one and gave up a single hit in two innings in her first varsity action.
Junior outfielder Liv Davies sparked the offense going 2-for-2 with three RBI. Senior first baseman Mya Maughan went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Senior center fielder Brynlee Cook also was 2-for-3, driving two across and scoring twice. Junior shortstop Camry Wassmer added two runs.
Mar. 5: Lehi 6, Spanish Fork 0
In the home opener, the Pioneers boarded two runs in the third, one in the fourth and three in the sixth but gave up nothing to the visiting Dons. Harroun got the win, scattering four hits, striking out 10 and yielding two walks in 5.2 innings. Medler closed out the contest.
Junior catcher Piper Emery had two hits including a double and an RBI. Wassmer also had two hits with an RBI and a run scored. Senior outfielder Ashlyn Petersen, sophomore Allyx Navares and sophomore Kolbi Beck each singled, drove in a run and scored one.
Mar. 7: Lehi 14, Bingham 3
Despite multiple mistakes in the field, the Pioneers were able to plate 14 runs on nine hits and held last year’s 6A runner-ups to three runs in five batting turns.
The teams were knotted 1-1 after the first, but the Pioneers blew the game open with nine runs in the second and four in the third and the contest ended with the mercy rule after the top of the fifth inning.
Medler notched the win this time in four innings of work, with junior Claire Crutchfield throwing the other one. Navares swung the big bat on this occasion, going 2-for-3 including a home run yielding four RBI with two runs scored.
Junior designated player Brinlee Skidmore smacked two doubles, drove in two and scored twice. Davies doubled and walked for two RBI and two runs. Emery added two hits and two RBI.
Junior pinch runner Reese Taylor, Wassmer and Cook each crossed the plate twice. Senior Infielder Libby Baxter doubled for an RBI and also scored. Maughan made a run and hit one in as well.
“I’m super excited that the season has started and happy with our results this week,” said Coach Tim Kennedy. “Beating Spanish Fork and Bingham back-to-back is no easy task.
“What’s most encouraging to me is we finally have a pitching staff,” he continued. “It’s been 10 years since we’ve had more than two pitchers. Our three pitchers this week have only allowed three runs with an era of 0.41.”
The Pioneers visit Farmington on Tuesday (Mar. 10) at 3:30 p.m. before heading to Las Vegas March 19-21 to play six games in the annual Showcase.
