High school 5A softball: Vikings upset the Hawks

SANDY — Momentum could've gone a number of different ways in the early innings Tuesday, but Pleasant Grove made sure it swung its way with solid pitching and defense.

Angie Mikalauski pitched out of a first-inning jam, and Katie Briggs added a clutch two-run double in the third inning to lead Pleasant Grove to a 3-0 shutout victory over Alta in the opening round of the 5A softball state tournament.

"They hit the ball a little bit, but we just made plays defensively," said Pleasant Grove coach Kale Gillman. "That momentum is huge. If they would've scored a couple runs in the first inning that could've been the difference in the ball game."

Alta moved a pair of runners into scoring position in the bottom of the first inning, but Mikalauski pitched out of the jam with some help from the defense. Mikalauski finished the game with seven strikeouts without surrendering a walk.

"We've relied on pitching quite a bit this year," said Gillman. "It's good for her, (Angie) just realized I just need to go out and do our job and I've got people backing me up."

While Pleasant Grove only committed one error, an Alta error allowed the Vikings to go in front 1-0 in the second inning. The big hit for Pleasant Grove, however, came in the third.

With runners at first and second with one out, Gillman opted to have Samantha Dodson sacrifice both runners into scoring position with Briggs on deck. The sacrifice was a success, and Briggs followed it up with a double to right center field to increase the lead to 3-0.

"I guess that's one of those plays where sometimes you make that call and sometimes you're lucky, and sometimes you're not. I just had a lot of confidence in Katie Briggs to come up and hit the ball and advance those runners and pick up two if we could," said Gillman.

Briggs finished the day 1 for 3 from the plate while Kenzie Jardine and Mikalauski each went 2-for-4.

Pleasant Grove, the No. 3 seed from Region 4, advances to the Thursday's quarterfinals and will travel to Region 3 champion Bingham. Alta, meanwhile, drops into the consolation bracket and hosts Davis on Thursday.

E-mail: jedward@desnews.com