Prep softball recap: It took extra innings, but Rocky Mountain wins district on walk-off
Rocky Mountain’s Liz Marshall brought the winning run across home plate with a walk-off RBI single in the eighth inning Thursday in a 14-13 victory over Mountain View in the 5A District Three championship game.
Marshall, a pitcher, was playing out of position Thursday at first base and had a hard time hanging on to a few throws from across the diamond. But with the game on the line in extra innings, she drove a pitch into left field, clinching Rocky Mountain’s second district title since 2018.
“You’ve just got to relax and hit it into a gap,” Marshall said after the game. “That’s all I was thinking. You’ve just got to hit it on the ground. Don’t swing for the fences.”
Rocky Mountain (24-1) and Mountain View (18-9) will both advance to the 5A state tournament, which begins next Friday. But neither team is likely to forget Thursday’s game anytime soon.
The teams combined for five home runs, including a grand slam by Mountain View’s Jazmyn Jenkins, which gave the Mavericks a 13-9 lead in the top of the fifth inning.
Rocky Mountain came storming back in its half of the frame, though. Rylie Gilbreath cut the lead to two with a two-run single, and Emily Henard followed with a two-run home run, which cleared the fence in right field and tied the game 13-13.
It was Henard’s second two-run homer of the day. After Gilbreath plated two runs to tie the game 7-7 in the fourth, Henard sent a pitch out of the park to give the Grizzlies a two-run lead.
“We just have so much drive and so much want to win,” Henard said. “We’ve got to keep the energy up in the dugout. That’s big for us, and we’ve got to keep the bats going.”
Henard went 3-for-4 at the plate with six RBIs, while Gilbreath finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Marshall went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
It was another impressive day for Rocky Mountain’s batting order, which produced 12 hits. But manager Brian White was more impressed that his team found a way to pull out the win in the final innings, which he said has become the Grizzlies’ specialty this year.
“They just keep fighting,” White said. “They find ways to give us chances to win games.”
Mountain View took a 5-2 lead in the third inning thanks to a pair of home runs. Gracie Tetinger cleared the fence in left-center field with a solo shot, and Keeley Joslin followed with a two-run shot over the fence in right field.
Tetinger and Jenkins both went 3-for-4 to lead the Mavericks at the plate.
“The grit this team has is amazing,” Mountain View manager Destiny Turner said. “We were struggling a little this year, but we kept telling them they were going to figure it out and come together at the right time, and I couldn’t be more proud of them today.”
Pitcher Carly Boisvert went the distance for Mountain View and racked up 10 strikeouts.
“She’s a battler,” said Turner, adding that Boisvert has started three games in the past week. “She can come in and even when she’s tired and sore, she can give one of the best hitting teams in Idaho a run for their money.”
SKYVIEW STAYS ALIVE: Taylor Brewer threw a five-inning, one-hit shutout and struck out eight to lead the Hawks to a 12-0 win over Borah in the 5A District Three Tournament fifth-place game.
Skyview (15-11) advances to a state play-in game Saturday.
BISHOP KELLY WINS 4A DISTRICT TITLE
The Knights hung three runs in the bottom of the first inning, and that proved to be more than enough as Bishop Kelly beat Ridgevue 4-2 in the 4A District Three Tournament championship game Thursday at Middleton.
Pilar Cook got it started with a line-drive, RBI single to left field, and then Claire Cunningham followed with a two-run single to center to spot Bishop Kelly (19-3) an early lead.
Cook made that lead stand up, holding the Warhawks (19-8) to two unearned runs on five hits while striking out six for the Knights’ first district title since 2015.
WALK-OFF EXTENDS VALLIVUE’S SEASON: Yazmin Garcia laced a ground ball through the left side of the infield for a walk-off single that lifted the Falcons to an 8-7 win over Emmett in the 4A District Three Tournament third-place game.
Vallivue (18-9) advances to a state play-in game Saturday.
SOFTBALL SCOREBOARD
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
