High school softball: Knights edge Vikings in eight-inning thriller

PLEASANT GROVE — Though the Vikings had their chances, it was the Lone Peak Knights that went into Pleasant Grove and eked out a 7-5 victory in eight innings on Tuesday, keeping themselves undefeated at 3-0 in Region 4.

Pleasant Grove dropped its first Region 4 contest and now stands at 2-1 in the region. But this game couldn't have been any closer until the Knights found themselves battling back with a pair of outs in the eighth inning.

With the game tied 4-4 at the end of regulation play, the Knights were first up to bat in the extra inning, starting with Baylee Kerr on second base as per international tie-break rules. Raven King sacrificed her on to third base, and McKenzie St. Clair knocked her in for the score. St. Clair got out on the play, giving the Knights two outs in the eighth with no one on base.

But that's when Lone Peak started the fireworks show, as Rachael Schoonmaker singled up the middle and Lauren Gourdin continued her hot hitting with her second double of the game, a run-scoring shot to the center-field fence that made it 6-4. Whitney Stevens doubled to the gap in right, scoring the Knights' third run of the inning and giving Lone Peak just a bit more of a cushion. After a walk to LaChelle Eckles and a single by Elise DeMille, Pleasant Grove avoided any further damage and the Knights took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

"We came together as a team in that inning and showed a lot of heart," said Lone Peak coach Jenae Forsey, who noted just how the team picked up its hitting up with a pair of outs in the top of the eighth.

They also came together defensively in the bottom of the eighth, as Hayley Alder smacked a single to center, moving Jade Kennedy to third base, and Katie Briggs hit a sacrifice fly to bring home a run and make the score 7-5. But the Vikings just couldn't work the bats any more than that.

Neither team scored in the first four innings, though the Vikings loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fourth and couldn't bring a single run home.

Then Lone Peak came out in the fifth on the heals of the Vikings' ineffectiveness in leaving three runners stranded and scored a pair of runs on a double by Gourdin, a Pleasant Grove error, and a sacrifice fly by Eckles.

The Vikings got one run back in the bottom of the inning with a triple by Regan Weber and a Lone Peak error.

A pair of singles and a walk added two more runs to the Lone Peak total in the top of the sixth, and Pleasant Grove used a walk, a single, an error and a double to deep center field by Mackenzie Larson to score three runs in the sixth and tie it up at 4-4.

Neither team managed a score in the seventh, though the Vikings did put runners on second and third with only one out before stranding the pair.

"We knew we couldn't get down early, and pitchers on both sides were excellent, but we had opportunities to die, and we never once did," said Forsey, who has high hopes her team can stay on top of the region and take the title and a No. 1 seed into the state tournament.

e-mail: jolsen@desnews.com