High school softball: Murray advances in 5A softball

TAYLORSVILLE — Sunny skies, comfortable temperatures and — most importantly — a dry field were all the Murray Spartans needed to continue their advancement in the 5A girls state softball tournament Saturday.

Braylee Butcher allowed just four hits over six innings, and Murray's group of speedy baserunners helped forced three errors as the Spartans beat Syracuse 6-2 at Salt Lake Community College.

Murray will play Weber in a game currently scheduled for Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. at the Valley Softball Complex. Syracuse moved into the consolation bracket and will play the Skyline-Lone Peak winner at noon Tuesday at the same site.

Coach Lisa Parker's Murray team improved its record to 26-2 this season. The Spartans never trailed and built a 5-0 lead, thanks to a fifth-inning triple by Tanisha Anderson and an RBI single by Alyssa Strobehn, who then stole a couple of bases and scored on a Syracuse throwing error.

"The field conditions (in Murray's game Wednesday against West Jordan) prevented us from running much last time, but we did it today," said Parker. "This was a whole different type of game."?

Rainy weather and muddy fields have forced several game cancellations over the last week. However, Parker was able to secure SLCC's nearby field for its state tourney home games and it paid off.

"The field here (at SLCC) has much better drainage and at least we were able to get our game in,"?Parker said. "We were one of the few."?

Syracuse, meanwhile, couldn't practice or play its opener until Friday against Pleasant Grove. The Titans won 10-4 but had to come back and play less than 24 hours later. In addition, Murray's coaches were able to scout the game.

"That had to be an advantage to them,"?said Syracuse coach Kelly Anderson.

But it was more than just that, he noted.

"They had a lot more energy than we did — more life," he said. "They put us on our heels. That's an aggressive team and it put a lot of pressure on us."?

The Spartans started quickly. Helped by a boisterous crowd, Sarah Park led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and used her speed to come around and score on Maddy Woodard's double. The next inning, Strobehn started it off by reaching on an error and she later scored on a single by Park.

Syracuse's Mylee Davis got to third base in the second inning, but Butcher retired 13 of the next 14 hitters to limit the Titans' threats. Syracuse picked up its two runs in the sixth when Timmarie Taylor was hit by a pitch, Taylor Tann's single got past the right fielder for an error, and another hit by Davis.

Elise Johnson pitched the seventh inning for Murray and was never threatened.