4A high school softball: Royals top Titans after wild pitch

TAYLORSVILLE — With two outs and a runner on third, Roy coach Mandy Koford understands why a coach would try to pitch around her shortstop, Krystin Jachim.

"She has the ability to end a game," said the Royals coach after Roy defeated Olympus 1-0 in the third round of the 4A State Softball Tournament Tuesday night at the Valley Softball Complex.

Just the threat of what Jachim can do at the plate helped the Royals score their only run of the game in the third inning with the senior at the plate.

Olympus pitcher Carly Duckworth tried to walk Jachim, but one pitch went high and wide and MaCauley Flint scored the Royals only run. Flint got on base in the bottom of the third on a fielding error and then the sophomore stole second. She moved to third on a fielder's choice and then scored on the wild pitch.

Duckworth pitched a one-hitter and except for the two errors in that inning, the Titans were flawless.

"Kristin forces teams to think and figure things out," said Koford. "She's just that special player. If they take her bat away, she'll help us any way she can."

Koford's niece MaCauley Flint threw a complete game for the Royals, who will face Region 5 rival Bonneville in Wednesday night's semi-final game.

"Who knew we'd get to re-live some of those region games?" said Koford. "Bonneville is as hot as any team out there. In fact, last time we played them we lost. Which I hope is to our advantage. I hope my girls are hungry."

Koford understands first-hand how much pressure is on these teenage athletes this week.

"It was 11-years-ago that I was here," said the former Roy pitcher. "I was the girl in the dugout crying between innings. This is a stressful, stressful place. They just make me so proud of how they are playing."

Koford said her neice, Flint, is a completely different personality type than she was.

"She's not as emotional as I was and that is to her advantage," said Koford. "She has a lot more confidence than I had. I'm extremely proud of how well she is playing as just a sophomore."

Olympus had four hits to Roy's single hit, but the Royals had no fielding errors in their third shutout of the playoffs. Duckworth earned six strikeouts, while Flint finished with 10 strikeouts.

For Olympus, Josie Thamert, Kelsie Webster and Nicole Rockwood each earned singles in the loss. The Titans will also take on a familiar foe in Wednesday's one-loss bracket. Olympus will play Murray at 5 p.m. with the winner playing again at 7:15 p.m. against the winner of the Tooele/Woods Cross game.

The championship of the double-elimination tournament will be played at 5 p.m. Thursday.

E-MAIL: adonaldson@desnews.com