High school girls softball: No-hitter lifts Lehi past Timpanogos

LEHI — With a slow-starting offense, Lehi was thrilled to watch Ariel Zimmerman pitch a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

The Pioneers just kept getting better at the plate as their game against Timpanogos moved along. They got so much better in the later innings, in fact, that though they only scored a single run in the first three, they were able to put nine runs across the plate in the next three, giving them a total of 10 and a 10-1 victory over some of their toughest competition in Region 7 action.

"Ariel pitched phenomenally as always. She's coming on strong, throwing the ball hard, and getting great movement on it," said Lehi coach Leslie Warr, who was happy to see her team come back from a tough contest against Payson one day earlier to play as well as it did.

Everything got started in the bottom of the second as Brianne McBride blasted a home run over the center field fence to put the first run on the board. Though the Pioneers didn't score again until the fourth inning, Warr believes that long ball gave her team a bit of confidence and momentum, especially with Zimmerman in control on the mound.

"That home run kind of got us going. Bree hit that, and they realized that the rest of us could hit, too," said Warr, whose team finished the game with 10 hits.

The Lehi fielding was also solid as the team only had one error in the game and counted on solid infield play to hold the Timberwolves without a hit as Zimmerman forced grounders out of the opposition for the most part.

Whitney Cook singled up the middle in the fourth to pick up two RBIs as the Pioneers scored three in the inning behind a pair of singles and a pair of errors from the T-Wolves.

They added a run to the four-run advantage in the bottom of the fifth as Annie Nielsen picked up the first of three total RBIs in the game on a single into left center.

Timpanogos was able to get one back in the top of the sixth despite not being able to record a single hit on a walk to Cierra Gunn, a passed ball and some key groundouts that allowed her to cross the plate on the RBI grounder from Kayla Atkins.

But the Pioneers exploded in the bottom of the sixth, doubling their output on the evening with three singles by Cook, Carly White and Aly White; the third error from the T-Wolves; and a pair of doubles by Zimmerman and Nielsen that both went deep into center field.

"We got some momentum, and things started working. We were able to advance runners. Ariel's moving the ball very well, and we have a strong infield. We're going to work on the bunt and paying more attention to details and fundamentals (to prepare for further Region 7 action)," Warr noted.

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