MANTI—The Lady Templars didn’t waste time with Region 14’s last place team.
Manti softball took it to Delta at home, beating them in four innings, 15-0, last Tuesday to maintain a perfect 5-0 record in region play. The Lady Templars subsequently impressed the doubters with a non-region win, 4-2, last Wednesday over 5A Tooele, their sixth win over a team from the 4A classification or higher this season. They are now 13-9 overall.
“I feel like the girls are tapping into the quality of ball we expected them to play at the first of the year,” Coach Susan Hatch said. “However, we feel there is more to improve on in order to be competitive at the state level.”
The Lady Templars, who were once 0-7 on the year, have blown through most of their opponents since mid-March. Now, they’re back up near the front of the pack, holding a No. 5 spot in current RPI rankings, and they have wins over the No. 3 and No. 4 teams as the state championship tournament draws closer.
“I personally think all ratings go out the door when it comes time for the state tournament,” Hatch said. “Our focus is to always concentrate on the game we are currently playing.”
Manti’s batting lineup terrorized Delta’s pitching crew for four innings by collecting 14 hits, including three home runs, two of which were by senior Tiffany Hermansen, who grew her homer count to seven on the year and led the team in scoring with four RBI. Senior Rylee Jarvis hit the third home run.
Stats were not posted at press time for Manti’s win against Tooele, but Manti faced a 1-0 deficit for much of the game before the Lady Templars picked up three runs in the fourth inning and never looked back.
Manti will travel to take on 6A Taylorsville on Wednesday before returning home for a region matchup with Union on Friday.
