In the Filly League division (girls in grades 5-6), two separate tournaments were held July 6-8. The Wendy’s A’s from Moab competed in a 15-team tournament in Spanish Fork, while the Arches Trading Post Braves from Moab competed in a 16-team tournament in Springville.
The Braves cruised to wins in each of their first four games, with Tia Shumway and Kwincey Wells sharing pitching duties. The Braves’ fourth victory was a 13-2 victory over the Spanish Fork Lakers, said Braves coach Brook Shumway.
In the one-loss bracket, the Lakers won their next game, earning a championship game rematch with the Braves.
“It was a close game but we lost 6-5,” Shumway said. “We then had to turn around and play again for the championship, as both teams had one loss.”
Despite leading 3-1 early on and maintaining a 4-2 lead heading into the last inning, the Braves couldn’t prevent the Lakers from scoring three runs in the final inning to win the game, 5-4. The Braves had to settle for second-place medals.
“It was a tough loss, but we did our best,” Shumway said. “These girls really played hard.”
In the Spanish Fork Filly tournament, the Moab A’s won their first two games, defeating the Lehi Red Sox followed by the Spanish Fork Hawks. Later Wednesday afternoon, however, the A’s lost to the Spanish Fork Mustangs. After dropping into the one-loss bracket, the A’s rebounded with a late evening win over the Springville Wildfire.
Thursday afternoon, the A’s lost their final game to the Spanish Fork Badgers 5-2, exiting the tournament with a 3-2 overall record.
“That was the best any team I have coached has done at the state tournament,” said A’s coach Stephanie Haycock. Highlights included consistently solid pitching by Rhiannon Bohannon and the batting of Skyla Sheldon, who racked up several hits during the tournament, including a home run, according to Haycock.
The USGA Fox League state tournament was held July 6-8 in Payson. The High Point Hummer Red Sox from Moab ended up going 4-2 overall, finishing in fourth place out of 26 teams.
The Red Sox started off with a 10-4 win over the Peterson team from Gunnison, followed by a 7-3 victory over the Payson Angels.
The following day, the Red Sox faced the Spanish Fork Clippers, who came into the game with an unbeaten 15-0 record. The Red Sox won that game 10-6, said Red Sox coach Rick Lopez.
That big win set up another tough matchup, against another undefeated opponent, the 21-0 team from Manti. The Red Sox lost that hard-fought game, 7-6.
After dropping into the one-loss bracket, the Red Sox then beat the Spanish Fork Stars 10-4, setting up a rematch with the Clippers.
“We were down 7-1 early on, but came back to tie it 7-7 late in the game,” Lopez said. “It went to the international tiebreaker in extra innings, and they scored a run and we lost 8-7.”
Despite the loss, Lopez said the players should be proud of their tournament performance.
“They just did awesome,” Lopez said. “I didn’t think we would go that far, but we did.”
Lopez said that pitching duties were shared by Tiffanie Whipple, Donna Snow, and Amanda Sheets. In addition, Sheets (who played for the Royals during the regular season but was allowed to join the Red Sox for the tournament) belted a home run and a triple in the final game, Lopez said.
The Blanding Yankees, who competed with Moab’s teams during the regular season, ended up winning the state title by defeating Manti in the championship game, Lopez said.
Last but not least, two separate Falcon League tournaments for girls in grades 3-4 took place July 6-8 in Spanish Fork and Salem. Moab’s lone team in either tournament was the Moab Laundry Express Yankees, who competed in the Salem tournament after finishing first in the regular season in Moab with an overall record of 8-3-1.
Both of the Yankees’ state games were decided by a run or two, but the team made an early exit from the tournament, losing first to the Spanish Fork Rebels on Tuesday afternoon and then losing their second game later that evening. The Yankees were coached by RaeLynn Knight Mason.
This week (July 13-15), a handful of boys’ baseball teams from Moab are competing at the various state Utah Boys Baseball Association (UBBA) tournaments held in Utah County.