Leading the way were the Cubs and Reds of Moab's Fox League, comprised of girls who just completed seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. Both teams won their first two games of the three-day Utah Girls Softball Association (UGSA) tournament, held at the Gene Hillman Recreation Complex in Payson.
On Tuesday, the tournament's first day, the top-seeded Cubs (who won the Moab league with a 12-0 record) followed their first-round bye with an 8-0 victory over the Lehi Braves. Meantime, the Reds, who finished second in the Moab league, defeated teams from Salem and Gunnison to advance in the winners' bracket.
The next morning, however, the Reds narrowly lost 3-2 to the Spanish Fork Lancers to drop into the one-loss bracket. Meanwhile, on the opposite field, the Cubs outlasted the Springville Thunder 6-2, with pitcher Shelby Dalton picking up her second straight win.
The Reds were then eliminated from the tournament when they lost their next game to the South Nebo Kaos team.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Cubs faced the Payson Tigers, with pickup player Miranda Gill taking over the pitching duties for the Cubs. The Moab team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Tigers answered with three of their own in the bottom of the inning to tie the score. A couple of innings later, the Tigers scored three more, and managed to keep the Cubs from scoring again, making the final score 6-3.
The Payson Tigers ended up taking second place overall in the tournament, losing to the Spanish Fork Sluggers in Thursday's final game.
The Cubs' loss to the Tigers meant the Cubs had to play again immediately afterward to make it into Thursday's "final four." Although pitcher Dalton managed to keep the score low for the first two or three innings, the Spanish Fork Stars ended up winning the game 6-0, as the Cubs couldn't bring any of their numerous base-runners throughout the game across the plate. The Cubs, coached by Stephanie and Jayson Cluff and sponsored by Checker Auto Parts, ended up tied for fifth place in the 26-team tournament.
In other action last week, the Moab Diamondbacks, winners of the local Falcon League (girls who just completed third and fourth grades) lost both their games at Salem to make an early exit from the Falcon tournament. The Diamondbacks lost to Springville on Monday, July 9, followed by a loss to Manti later that evening. The Diamondbacks were coached by Jamie Guynn and sponsored by Roughneck Fencing.
Also last week, the UGSA Filly tournament (for girls who completed fifth and sixth grades) was held in Springville. The Moab Cardinals, coached by Pam Lopez and sponsored by VFW Post 10900, won their first game but lost their next two to end their season.
This week marks the Utah Boys Baseball Association (UBBA) state tournaments for Mustang, Pinto, and Pony leagues. Representing Moab at the Pinto level will be the local league champion Twins and the runner-up Padres, who outlasted the Dodgers in a playoff game for second place in Moab last Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, in the Mustang tournament, Moab will be represented by the A's team, which finished ahead of the runner-up Yankees and the third-place Reds in the final Moab standings.
A recap of the boys' baseball action will appear next week.