by Jake Gordon and Missy Thompson

STAFF WRITERS

With state playoffs just around the corner for Riverton, they must be estatic Tooele is only a 4A team and won't have to see them in the playoffs. The Buffs used an assault of long balls against the Silver Wolves to earn the 8-0 victory on Friday at Deseret Peak Complex.

Marissa Mendenhall stole the show for Tooele, smacking a triple, single and then finishing off the game with a sixth-inning home run. Marissa only lacked a double to hit for the coveted cycle.

The two Whitnie's in the middle of the order, Holt and Griffith, each earned two hits. Lead-off hitter Matti Snow also nailed a homer along with a double to help in the Buffs' power hitting show.

After Snow led off the game with a double, Lauren Folta was able to out-hustle a throw to first to give Tooele their first run. Looking for more, Brittany Gonzales hit a towering shot that appeared headed for a home run but careened off the fence for an RBI double and a 2-0 lead.

Being held scoreless in the second gave Tooele a thirst for more runs. In the third Marissa Mendenhall smacked a two-out triple then Holt quickly came on and pulled a homer over the left field fence for an 4-0 advantage.

With Tooele scoring in two of the first three innings, that was all the run support Folta would need. She continually mowed through Riverton batters, racking up 11 strikeouts.

Tooele continued scoring in the fourth as Jordan McMain got on base to start the inning then Snow nailed a liner that followed the left field line and just stayed fair by a couple feet for the Buffs' second homer of the day.

Folta got plunked following Snow's home run and Kelsey Mendenhal and Gonzales hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. Marissa Mendenhall blooped a single perfectly to center between the infielders and the outfielders to tack on another run, 7-0.

With the shutout still in place Marissa Mendenhall again came up big at the plate, this time with a solo shot to left field to finalize the Tooele scoring at 8-0. Riverton only managed four hits in the game against Folta.

jgordon@tooeletranscript.com

Taylorsville 5 - Tooele 1

The Tooele softball team had a rain out Wednesday at Taylorsville. Tooele was up 1-0 in the middle of the second inning when the game was postponed.

The game was rescheduled for Saturday and they picked it right where they left off with the Buffs taking the field at the bottom of the second.

That one run scored remained on the scoreboard through the remaining innings while the Warriors' score continued to rise and finally stop at 5-1. Taylorsville picked up a run in the second and another in the fifth inning, but a two-out, two-run homerun by Heather Gardner in the bottom of the sixth gave the Warriors enough of a cushion to hold on for the win.

The Buffs played five games in a row and this was the last one of regular season play before the 4A state championship starts on Tuesday against Woods Cross.

"I'm thinking [playing five games] may have had something to do with it," said Tooele coach Barry Pitt. "We did hit the ball really well in the last four games and we just went a little flat against Taylorsville."

Tooele's one run was scored by Snow after she reached base on a single and came home on a sacrifice fly by Folta.

Folta pitched and had four strikeouts and gave up three singles, a double and a homerun.

Despite closing out the regular season with a loss, Tooele will use it to prepare for the state tournament.

"All last week was good, it gave us four games in a row," Pitt said. "We may have to play that many at state."

Tooele opens up the state tournament hosting Woods Cross, today at 4 p.m. The Buffs ended up as the second seed coming out of Region 7.

missy@tooeletranscript.com