Carbon and Emery’s epic rivalry on the diamond continued on Thursday under the lights at the Carbon County Fairgrounds. When the teams met in Castle Dale earlier in the year, the Lady Spartans got the best of Carbon in a close 9-8 game. Thursday’s game continued to entertain as the two teams combined for 30 runs in the slugfest.
Emery delivered the first blow with a three-run opening inning. Adrianne Childs hit an RBI single to left and Bailey Huggard hit home a pair on her grounder to right field. Carbon responded with three singles to begin its at bats in the first, including an RBI by Brooke Moosman. Dekota Kraushaar then hit a sac fly to make it a 3-2 Emery lead.
Offenses went quiet until Carbon’s Gracie Hansen doubled to lead off the third. Moosman tallied her second RBI of the contest with a single up the middle, scoring Hansen to tie the game. Kaitlyn Cripps then hit a two-run bomb to go out in front. The scoring in the bottom of the third did not stop there. Six errors and several hits later, Carbon turned a one-run deficit into an eight-point advantage, pushing across nine runs in the inning to go up 11-3. Two of the errors occurred when Emery fielders got gloves on two separate routine fly balls that went in their mitts before popping out.
Moosman rebounded well from the first inning in the pitching circle with three-scoreless innings. The Lady Dinos extended their lead to 12-3 after Cierra Smuin’s RBI ground out.
Reagan Rasmussen hit a two-run homer with one out in the fifth to jump start Emery. Autumn Stilson then recorded an RBI on a fielder’s choice to cut it to 12-6. The Lady Spartans capitalized on an error that extend the inning and brought home four additional runs. Taleigh Price hit an RBI single past a diving shortstop and Childs drove home two more runners on a double that put Emery within one, 12-11. Kraushaar came in to relief Moosman and got the final out to end the Emery rally in the fifth.
The Lady Dinos immediately answered back when Cripps hit her second two-run blast of the contest over the left field fence. Kraushaar scored on a passed ball and Allee Abeyta hit home a runner from third to make it 16-11 Carbon.
Later on, in the top of the sixth, Ambree Bennett blooped a single over the shortshop’s head to score Stilson and Mollie Hurst and cut it to three, 16-13. With runners on second and third and only one out, Emery was threatening again. Cripps was asked to pitch and found herself on the receiving end of a bunt that came right back to her. She gathered the ball and pump faked a throw to first base. Bennett broke for home on the fake, trying to use her speed to score. Cripps instead threw the ball home and caught Bennett in a pickle. Bennett was tagged out trying to make it back to third. Cambrie Jensen was then caught in no man’s land between second and third. She too was eventually ran down in a pickle that ended the inning. The savvy play by Cripps effectively limited Emery’s damage with the inning ending double-play.
Carbon was again knocking on the door in the bottom half after Hansen hit a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Braileigh Clark got Moosman to ground into a double play that scored a run to make it 17-13.
With the same score in the top of the seventh, Cripps got around a Rasmussen double and struck out the side to get the save and close out the game. Carbon exacted revenge over rival Emery on Senior night by a score of 17-13.
Cripps was the player of the game, coming up clutch for the Dinos multiple times at the plate and in the field. She went 3-4 with two, two-run home runs at the plate. The first gave Carbon the lead and the second came right after Emery cut it to one. She also struck out three batters while closing out the game from the circle. Not to mention, her heads up play in the sixth that gave Carbon back the momentum and took the wind out of Emery’s sails.
Bennett, Taleigh Price, Childs, Rasmussen and Huggard all had two RBIs for the Lady Spartans who never gave up and fought hard to get back into the contest. Emery outhit Carbon 17-15 but could not overcome its seven errors.
Cripps, Kraushaar, Abeyta, Smuin and Clarissa Noyes, who went 2-4, were all honored on senior night. Carbon also gave gifts to the Emery seniors as a sign of the mutual respect that exists between the two rival teams.
