Both the Carbon Dinos and Emery Spartans kicked off the softball season in Castle Dale on Tuesday, with the Lady Dinos taking the victory 16-9.
Two home runs were hit in the game, one off the bat of Carbon’s Kaytlyn Cripps and the other by Emery’s Braileigh Clark in the bottom of the seventh, rounding out the scoring for the home team.
Both teams came out hot, each plating three runs apiece in the first inning of starting pitchers Dekota Kraushaar (Carbon) and Bailey Huggard (Emery).
The Lady Dinos added three more in the top of the second to take the 6-3 lead. They would add another in the third before breaking the game wide open in the fourth when they got two runs on a walk and a hit-by-pitch, both with the bases loaded, and a base-clearing double by Kraushaar to take the commanding 12-3 lead.
Emery responded in the bottom half of the inning, plating three runs on two walks and a wild pitch.
Cripps then led off the fifth with a solo home run to increase the Carbon lead to 13-6.
Carbon added three more runs in the sixth inning after retiring Emery in order in the bottom of the fifth. Kelsey Sorenson led of the sixth with a single, followed by a McKenna Pendergrass double. Kraushaar again doubled, knocking in both Sorenson and Pendergrass. Clarissa Noyes then singled, scoring Kraushaar.
Looking to end the game via the 10-run rule, Carbon had Emery down to its last out before Jayla Weston laced a two-run-single to extend the game to the seventh inning with the score at 16-8.
Emery was down to its last chance in the bottom of the seventh after no runs and no hits for Carbon in the top half of the inning. After a homer by Clark to cut the lead to 16-9, Carbon’s Brooke Moosman was able to strike out Madisyn Alton to end the game.
Carbon (1-0, 0-0 Region 14) will travel to ALA on Tuesday to kick off Region 14 play.
Emery (0-1, 0-0 Region 15) will travel to Gunnison on Friday.
