High school 4A softball: Titans outlast top-ranked Buffaloes in extra-inning pitchers' duel

TOOELE — There are fantastic softball games, there are fantastic softball games, and then there's Olympus' 4A quarterfinal showdown at top-ranked Tooele on Thursday.

Ace pitchers Mattie Snow of Tooele and Carly Duckworth of Olympus duked it out in a fantastic pitchers' duel over what proved to be nine innings, and Thursday's quarterfinal was filled with drama from the first pitch to the last.

While it might not have been a fantastic game from an offensive point of view — both teams combined for just five hits — everything else about it was both gripping and exhilarating.

And at the end of it all, it was Duckworth and the Titans who managed to outlast the defending 4A champs.

Junior Andrea Jorgensen singled home two runs in the top of the ninth inning, and Duckworth retired the side in the bottom half of the inning to propel Olympus to a 4-2 extra-inning win over Tooele and a spot in next week's 4A semifinals.

It's believed to be the first time in school history that Olympus' softball team has advanced to the semifinal round of a state tournament.

Afterward, Olympus coach Cyndee Bennett knew her team had just battled through a classic to get there.

"When we went out to the field at the end of the game for the postgame talk, I told the girls to just take a breath and just enjoy this moment right now and remember that this is why we play softball," said Bennett. "I told them, 'If you never remember another game in your whole life, remember this one. Stay up all night if you want to dwell on it, because this (was) one of the best games I've been a part of.' "

Olympus will meet No. 5 Roy in the semifinals of the winners' bracket next Tuesday at 7:45 p.m.

As it played out, Thursday's decisive moment finally arrived in the ninth inning. With the game tied at 2-2, Olympus had a runner on second because of the international tie-breaker rule. Duckworth walked to start off the inning, and both runners eventually ended up on second and third with two outs.

Jorgensen, Oly's clean-up batter, strode to the plate, and she absolutely came through in the clutch, as her shot to left field brought home both runners.

In the bottom half of the inning, Duckworth held her nerve to retire Tooele's 4-5-6 batters and clinch the huge victory.

Duckworth finished with nine strikeouts and was solid and composed throughout to get the pitching win, edging out Snow, who was sensational for the Buffaloes.