by Jake Gordon

STAFF WRITER

Grantsville showed up to Cedar City and took care of business like they were suppose to. A first-inning grand slam by Melissa Baird knocked the wind out any thoughts of an upset from Union, cruising to an 8-0 victory.

Krysta Taylor caused havoc for Union pitchers as she reached base all four times, drawing two walks and smacking two singles. Along with the explosive grand slam, Baird hit another single for two hits on the day and four RBIs.

With two outs in the first with only Korryn Coates on base things didn't look too promising for the Cowboys. But a Walk by Taylor and a single by Lynzie Valdez loaded the bases. Baird did not let the opportunity pass her by as she lined a hard home run over the center field fence to give her team a quick start with a 4-0 lead.

"It's amazing what our team can do with a quick start like we had today," said Grantsville softball coach Heidi Heath.

Grantsville starting pitcher Natalie Peterson quickly found out that the umpire would not be calling any strikes on the corners but it did not stop her from finding the strike zone and keeping Union off the board.

In the second, Grantsville had the bases loaded again and looked to blow the game wide open but failed to get any runners across the plate. However, the Cowboys were able to rectify their missed opportunity in the fourth.

Breanna Bunderson led things off for Grantsville with a single then Mallory Oltjenbruns got her first hit of the game and made it count. She nailed a single through the left side of the infield and managed to get past Union outfielder Maddi Arnold, scoring Bunderson.

Annie Young looked to continue the scoring as she laid down a perfect bunt and beat out the throw to first, scoring Oltjenbruns. Union did lend a little help as an easy Valdez fly ball hit to left field bounced off of a fielder's glove, bringing around Young for a 7-0 lead.

After six innings, Union was starting to find that if they wanted a chance to get on base, not to hit it to Grantsville's short stop. Along with Peterson's pitching, Kelsi Wells played a magnificent game at short continually gunning girls out at first.

With runners on second and third in the sixth, Taylor looked to add more runs to the Grantsville lead. She hit a hard grounder to Union short stop Cassie Ames, as Ames elected to throw the ball to third instead of first and Oltjenbruns was able to beat out the throw and allow Coates to score the Cowboys eighth and final run.

"Our performance at the plate with runners in scoring position was really impressive," said Heath. "We executed at the plate when runners were on base, even the few times we didn't get a hit, we were still aggressive at the plate."

Grantsville was able to get Union to go three-up-three-down in the seventh to seal the game. The Cowboys now advance to play Cedar City on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The tournament is being held at Valley Softball Complex, 5135 S. 2775 West in Salt Lake City.

jgordon@tooeletranscript.com