5A high school softball: Dons' bats come to life to keep them alive in 5A tourney

TAYLORSVILLE — Spanish Fork coach Don Andrews has been lamenting the lack of hitting from his team for the last few weeks. Though the Dons' bats are known around the state as some of the strongest bats around, the team has been going through a batting slump that's been affecting most of the lineup as opposed to just one or two girls.

After a loss on Tuesday night to the Viewmont Vikings that dropped the Dons down into the one-loss bracket — a loss in which the Spanish Fork bats were having a tough time even putting the ball into play — Andrews wasn't sure if his team's bats would resurface in time.

But did they ever on Wednesday in the 5A state softball tournament. After watching those bats come to life in the later innings of Spanish Fork's 7-0 victory over Hunter in the first game of the night, Andrews watched those sticks stay hot against the tough pitching arm of Syracuse's Ashley Ostler as his team pulled off a 10-run rule game against the Titans with the 11-1 victory.

"We started out today a little bit tentative, but as the day progressed through several innings, we started looking more and more relaxed," said the Dons' coach, who's hoping those bats will remain hot in their game Thursday against Viewmont, as the two teams vie for the right to face Bingham in the championship game. The early game begins at 2:45 this afternoon.

The Spanish Fork bats were led by Kylie Brinkerhoff, who has been the Dons' most consistent hitter of the season, as she smacked three singles and a double against the Titans, bringing in five RBIs against the tough arm of Ostler.

This effort was after hitting a pair of singles against Hunter in the first game of the day.

"Kylie has been improving by leaps and bounds every game, every day. She's been stepping it up. She's fast, she can bunt, she can slap, she hits for power and she hits for average. She has a good arm and has become a great outfielder," said Andrews, who noted that his goal every year is to make it to the final day with his team.

"We were getting bunts down," said Andrews, who was thrilled with that aspect of the game because his team has had trouble lately with getting the bunts to drop. "It was kind of unique. It's just those little things that seem easy to do but are really hard to do that will win games for you."

One thing that gives Andrews hope in his bid to come out of the one-loss bracket is the fact that he has a pair of pitchers that have been able to take the load off each other as they split time on these two-game nights.

"Cami Robinson has really come on the last three games she's pitched. She's only given up, like, two runs, and Dezlee Roberts is pitching well too," said Andrews.

Katelyn Elliott added a home run in the rout against the Titans.

Ostler had a double for the Titans in defeat.

E-MAIL: jolsen@desnews.com