3A softball: Grantsville rides Casper to shut out Desert Hills

Spanish Fork • Her stuff might not have been at peak level Thursday, but that was little consolation for the batters facing Grantsville pitcher Alese Casper.

Casper and the Cowboys shut down Desert Hills 5-0 to move into the Class 3A softball state tournament semifinals, joining Ridgeline, Bear River and Tooele as the only unbeatens left in the double-elimination bracket.

Casper scattered three hits, didn't allow a runner past second base and struck out 10.

"She did a great job," Grantsville coach Heidi Jo Taylor said. "To be honest, she wasn't quite as good as she usually is. That's something to smile about, I guess.

"The first inning, she was a little bit slow to start. She then got her at-bat, threw a little bit and got back on the money."

Desert Hills (24-6-1), which later was eliminated with a loss to Carbon, didn't reach Casper for a hit until Rilee Stookey doubled in the fourth. But Stookey never moved off second base as Casper induced a pop up and got a strikeout to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Grantsville (22-5) gave its pitcher a quick cushion with three runs in the bottom of the first. With two runners on, Reannon Justice singled past second for one run, and Addison Smith followed with a two-run double into the left-center field gap.

The Cowboys added to the lead in the fifth when Justice took matters into her own hands by blasting a towering two-run homer to left.

"When I first hit it, I thought that if it went over it was barely going to go over," Justice said.

Desert Hills pitcher Bri St. Clair only allowed one hit over her other four innings of work when Grantsville didn't score.

But it was Casper who never had an off inning at the Spanish Fork Softball Complex. She had a similar assessment to her coach's evaluation of her stuff.

"The pitches weren't working as well, but I know I'll get it throughout the tournament," she said. —

Grantsville 5, Desert Hills 0

• Grantsville pitcher Alese Casper fans 10 batters and allows only three hits in working a complete-game victory.

• Reannon Justice drives in one run with a first-inning single then two more with a home run in the fifth.

• The Cowboys advance to the state semifinals, while Desert Hills was forced to the consolation bracket, where it falls to Carbon in an elimination game.

Class 3A state tournament

at Spanish Fork Softball Complex

Thursday's second-round scores

Ridgeline 3, Juab 1

Tooele 9, Cedar City 1

Grantsville 5, Desert Hills 0

Bear River 10, North Sanpete 0

Friday's schedule

State quarterfinals

10 a.m. • Ridgeline vs. Tooele

10 a.m. • Grantsville vs. Bear River

State semifinals

2 p.m. • Quarterfinal winners