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It took a while for Woods Cross to get in its Region 6 softball game at Cyprus, but sometimes delays have built-in benefits. The contest was originally scheduled for last Thursday and then Friday, but weather forced cancellations for both of those games.

What the Wildcats did with that time was work on countering something Cyprus freshman pitcher Alexis Poulsen is abundantly talented at: changing speeds.

The extra batting practice paid off on Wednesday as Woods Cross (11-7, 8-1 Region 6) twice staged comebacks and scored an 8-4 victory in eight innings over Poulsen and the Pirates.

Trailing 4-3 in the seventh, the Wildcats got a two-out single from Hanalee Robinson to drive in the tying run.

Then, in the eighth, three straight hits from the bottom of the lineup broke the deadlock, leading to a triple Haydn Flygare slammed to the left-field fence and breaking open the game.

Robinson, who also had temporarily tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single in the fifth, said that the 'Cats knew what to prepare for when it came to facing Poulsen's change-of-pace throws.

"It really helped, leading up to the game, that in our practices we worked with change-up drills," Robinson said. "We were able to read it when she released it. They taught us to sit back and to drive it. And if it wasn't there, we needed to adjust and go for our own pitch."

Behind 3-0 in the fifth inning, and before Robinson's first run-scoring single, lead-off hitter Brooke Brown fought off temptation and waited on a Poulsen pitch. Brown drove the ball into right-center to score Woods Cross' first two runs of the game.

"She's one of our best at that. She's steady; we call her 'Base Hit BB' because she's disciplined," Wildcats coach Chad Lythgoe said. "[Poulsen] has been playing a pivotal role for Cyprus, and we were lucky to get some good timely hits."

All of that discipline and practice nearly went for naught, though.

After Woods Cross staged its three-run rally to tie, Cyprus senior Brittany Parry greeted Robinson — the pitcher for the 'Cats — with a solo homer to start the bottom of the fifth.

After Poulsen got Woods Cross out in order in the sixth, the Pirates' hurler retired the first two batters in the seventh.

But, after an opposite-field hit by Flygare, a routine pop-up by Caitlin Barber to second was dropped. Robinson, with Flygare now at third, converted the new life into her second RBI single to send the game into extra innings.

The victory moved Woods Cross, which has won 11 of its past 12 games, into a tie with Clearfield atop Region 6. Cyprus (12-8, 6-3) will now need plenty of help to regain what was nearly in its grasp — a chance for a region title.

"Our goal, coming into the game, was to play the best game we could," Cyprus coach Greg Henson said. "Until the last out, we did. But Woods Cross is a tough team, and they come to play ball and it was a tough game today." —

Woods Cross 8, Cyprus 4

R Woods Cross overcomes two deficits to tie, the last on forcing extra innings on an RBI single from Hanalee Robinson.

• The visiting Wildcats, which move into a tie with Clearfield atop Region 6, get run-scoring singles from Brooke Brown and Robinson in the fifth inning.

• Cyprus senior Brittany Parry slams a homer in the sixth, just after Woods Cross' first comeback.