DIVISION IV SOFTBALL: Panthers hold on, grab inside track to state title

Pahranagat Valley softball coach Mike Sparrow knows no matter how large a lead is, it’s never safe until the last out is made.

After plating six runs in the third inning of Friday’s Division IV state tournament winners’ bracket final, the Panthers needed every last one to hold off Eureka, 8-5, at Rancho High.

Pahranagat Valley (21-4) will face the Vandals again at 10 a.m. Saturday in the title game at Rancho.

Eureka, which defeated Indian Springs, 12-3, in the losers’ bracket final, would need to beat the Panthers twice to earn the championship.

“We expect one game,” said Sparrow, whose program last won the title in 2009. “One and done, but we’ll plan for two.” 

Trailing 8-3 entering the top of the seventh, the Vandals pushed across two runs with two outs before C.C. Brown came to the plate as the potential tying run.
With runners on first and second, Pahranagat Valley starting pitcher Kennedy Huntsman induced a sharp ground ball to third for the game’s final out.

“It really drops the tension when you can get an eight-run lead, because you can play a little more conservative,” Sparrow said. “But you don’t want to get too conservative.”

The Panthers, aggressive on the base paths early on, had the leadoff hitter reach in each of the first three innings.

“We jumped on them early. We had enough energy today to get some really big hits at the start,” Pahranagat Valley’s leadoff hitter Brook Higbee said. “Yesterday, I wasn’t doing too good with my hitting, and I told myself ‘I’m going to get up there and if there’s a good first pitch, I’m going to hit it.’ And I did.”

The freshman went 2-for-4 with an RBI single, two stolen bases and two runs.

Randi Jones’ two-run bloop single to right field capped the six-run third, as Pahranagat Valley benefited from three walks and two Eureka errors.

“Early (in the season) we did not swing the bat well,” Sparrow said. “But we started to zero in on the ball and it’s been really, really good to see we can hit a ball and put it in play. We just need to do the same tomorrow, and I like our chances.”

In the losers’ bracket final, Eureka pounded out 10 hits and took advantage of nine Indian Springs’ errors to eliminate the Thunderbirds.

The Vandals scored four runs in the second and six runs in the third. Eureka sent 12 batters to the plate in the third inning, and used four hits, a walk, and five Indian Springs’ errors, including a pair of catcher’s interference calls, to extend the gap.

Taylor Anderson was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base for the Vandals.

Heather Thormahlen finished 2-for-3 with two triples, a run, and an RBI for the Thunderbirds.

In the losers’ bracket semifinal earlier in the day, Heather Thormahlen and Hannah Thormahlen each hit an inside-the-park home run to propel the Thunderbirds to an 11-3 victory over Smith Valley.

Indian Springs, which had 11 steals in the game, platted six runs on six hits in the fifth inning to break things open.

Hannah Thormahlen went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs, and Heather Thormahlen was 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and two RBIs.