Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SPANISH FORK — There's a Cinderella storming through the 3A softball tournament, and her name is Manti.
The Templars won their fourth straight playoff contest in a 12-10 victory over Carbon on Friday at the Spanish Fork Softball Complex, punching their ticket to Saturday's semifinal for a chance to play in the state championship game.
"I'm really proud of these girls. They came out with a lot of heart and put it together," Manti head coach Belinda Osborn said. "I'm speechless right now."
The Templars had already lost twice to Carbon in the season — including a 7-1 defeat in Thursday's playoff opener — but Manti's misfortune ceased as Osborn's squad erupted for six runs in the first inning to set the tone for a slugfest.
"We had two tough losses to Carbon (this year), so today was huge," Osborn said. "We had a lot of momentum going into it. Being patient at the plate and not chasing took a lot of discipline and helped us a lot."
Cecily Alder led the Templar offensive charge with three runs batted in, while Aliva Osborn and HayLee Daniels recorded two hits apiece. Daniels went the distance on the mound, and despite walking nine batters and stomaching four errors from her defense, the Manti offense did just enough to earn the win.
Rallying from a 2-7 start to the season, Manti will now face rival North Sanpete on Saturday at 10 a.m. MDT with a trip to the state championship game at stake.
"I know that they can do it," Osborn said. "This win today will help them know that they can do it."
Grantsville scores semifinal win over North Sanpete
Grantsville's starting pitcher Chloe Bytheway stole the show in Friday's 3-0 semifinal victory over North Sanpete, where she racked up 14 strikeouts to clinch a state championship berth for the Cowboys.
"I could trust my team, and knew that they had my back the whole time," Bytheway said. "I knew that we were going to win today because the team had my back."
Bytheway was brilliant over her seven innings of a three-hit, shutout game, and got Hawk players after Hawk players to chase outside of the strike zone — and she received plenty of help from her defense, too. In one frame, North Sanpete loaded the bases with no outs, only for Bytheway to escape the jam with three straight punch outs.
"Chloe was really dialed in and focused today," Grantsville head coach Tony Cloward said. "It was a great old fashioned pitching duel with some great defense."
The Cowboys scored two runs in the game's first inning and were held scoreless after the third, but the veteran squad with eight senior starters kept its composure all the way to the final out.
"Nothing's rattled them," Cloward said of his team. "They stay really confident and stick to the plan. It's wonderful to have that as a coach."
The Cowboys now advance to Saturday's state championship game, where they will face the winner of North Sanpete's one-loss semifinal matchup with Manti.
