There was a lot riding on Emery and Grand’s matchup when the two teams met on Thursday afternoon. The Spartans were desperately searching for a statement win, while the Red Devils had a chance to tie Carbon for first in region.
Madison Childs started in the circle and quickly retired the side. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Tylee Norton started the scoring with a solo shot to left. Two batters later, Taleigh Price singled home Bralin Wilde, making it 2-0.
Grand had a two-out rally of its own in the second to pull within one. With the same score in the third, Childs ran into command issues. A hit batter and a walk put runners on for Jaci Shumway, who ripped a ball over the fence for a three-run blast. Childs then loaded the bases with two more walks and a hit batter, forcing Coach Bell to make a move. Cambrie Jensen calmly came in and induced a groundout to end the threat.
The Lady Spartans picked up their teammate and got to work in the bottom of the third. Wilde hit an RBI double and then came around to score on a wild pitch to immediately tie the game at four. Childs walked and scored on Janessa Weston’s double to put Emery on top once more.
An error allowed for the fourth run of the inning, putting the Spartans up 6-4. With the same score in the fifth, Weston came up with a runner on and roped one over the fence in left center. Emery added another run in the sixth and went on to take the game 9-6.
Weston led the team with three RBIs while the middle of the order was extremely productive, scoring eight of the nine runs. Jensen only allowed three hits through four and 1/3 innings and gave up two runs to grab the ‘W.’
With the win, Emery is expected to climb the RPI standings. Carbon is also ecstatic for the help from its rivals as the Dinos are now region champions.
Up next, Emery (15-7-1, 6-4) will host senior night on Friday against Duchesne (17-7). The Lady Spartans will then wrap up the regular season on Monday at Gunnison Valley (14-8).
