Alta soars past Northridge, 3-0

SANDY -- In the opening round of the 5A softball tournament, a bloop single off the mitt of the Alta shortstop was the only thing that kept Nicole Freeman from perfection.

With two outs in the top-half of the sixth inning against the visiting Northridge Knights, the Hawks pitcher found herself flirting with a perfect game. Freeman had retired the first 17 batters she faced. A little bad luck against the 18th prevented Freeman from the incredible feat.

A lazy pop fly by Northridge's Angie Nunez bounced off the mitt of the outstretched defender, breaking up the perfect game and giving the Knights their lone hit of the afternoon.

Still, Freeman was brilliant. After Nunez was thrown out to end the inning, the Alta pitcher put the Knights down in order in the final frame. Freeman finished with a one-hitter while striking out seven en route to a 3-0 Alta victory.

"Nicole was in a zone today," Alta coach Tiffani Airmet said. "She was focused and ready to go." Even though she came just four outs from the perfect game, Freeman said she was unaware of the fact until someone informed her in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"I didn't know about it until someone told me," she said. "My focus was to just go and make outs. I was taught to get two strikes ahead (in the count.)"

Offensively, the Hawks scored early to give Freeman confidence on the mound. Anderson scored on a fielder's choice in the first inning to put her team up 1-0. After doubling in Erin Shaw in the third, Anderson scored again on another fielder's choice to give Alta the 3- 0 advantage.

"I believed I had a good team behind me," Freeman said. "That makes me pitch better."

While her coach was delighted with Freeman's one-hitter, Airmet was much happier that her team was able to earn the victory.

"I would rather win in the first round any day," she said. "I would take 12 hits if we were able to win."

The game featured an impressive defensive performance by both teams, with neither squad surrendering any errors. "The defenses worked really hard today," Airmet said.

Next up for the Hawks will be Region 1's No. 1 seed Taylorsville.

In other Class 5A playoff games Tuesday:

LAYTON 8, KEARNS 1: Kori Coleman twirled a complete-game three hitter and struck out nine in leading the Lancers. Layton also took advantage of nine Kearns errors. Danielle McDonald was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs and Coleman was 2-for-4 with a double, while Rachelle Richards was 3-for-3 with an RBI.

JORDAN 6, WEBER 1: Jordan gained the upper hand in the 5A playoff game with a 6-run offensive effort in the sixth inning to advance to the next round. Noelle Jones made some key plays for the Beetdiggers.

HUNTER 6, RIVERTON 0: Keshia Elizondo went 2-for-3 and had two RBIs and Ashley Christiansen held the Silverwolves scoreless.

BINGHAM 5, COTTONWOOD 4: The Miners used three runs in the seventh inning to come from behind, win and advance to the next round of the 5A State Tournament. Despite the loss, Teri Matsumura had three RBIs for Cottonwood.

FREMONT 7, COPPER HILLS 0: Region 1 No. 2 Fremont had no trouble with the Grizzlies.

TAYLORSVILLE 8, HILLCREST 0: Dabney Sundquist went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored two runs to help lead the Warriors to the playoff win.

VIEWMONT 10, SKYLINE 0: The Region 1 champion Vikings advanced with the shutout win.

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