Wice is nice as Cyprus blanks West in Region 5

Last week was rough for Cyprus lefthander Joe Wice. On Tuesday against Bountiful, Wice was injured when a line drive struck the pitcher on the mound. Later in the week, Wice was diagnosed with bronchitis.

With his availability for Monday's game against West, Wice telephoned Cyprus coach Bob Fratto Sunday to say he was ready.

Fratto gave his senior pitcher the start against a formidable Region 5 opponent, and Wice responded by throwing a complete-game, three-hit shutout for the Pirates' 9-0 victory over the Panthers.

With the victory, Cyprus remained undefeated atop Region 5 with a 10-0 record. Meanwhile, West dropped to 6-4 in region play.

Striking out eight batters and walking only one, Wice moved to 5- 1 on the season.

In region play, the Pirates have only given up 13 runs in 10 games. "We've been blessed to have good pitching," Fratto said.

Cyprus was equally impressive offensively. After struggling to score runs last week, the Pirates responded Monday with nine runs on nine hits.

"We had trouble hitting the ball," Fratto said. "Today, we put good swings on it. Our mental attitude was focused."

Cyprus leads East by two games with four to play. However, Fratto isn't ready to celebrate a Region 5 title yet.

"We're still not happy," he said. "If we slip up this week, we'll have to play for the region championship next Tuesday against East."

Cyprus will try to avoid slipping up when they host Olympus this Wednesday before playing at Murray on Friday.

For West, the Panthers must now regroup to stay in contention for a strong playoff seed. West will face Bountiful this Wednesday before taking on Olympus.

In other prep action:

BASEBALL

REGION 5

OLYMPUS 9, WOODS CROSS 0: Eric Fairbourn had three doubles for Olympus (6-4).

EAST 5, MURRAY 3: The Leopards' Adam Aird scattered five hits.

BOUNTIFUL 14, HIGHLAND 0: Steve Matheson, Casey Getzelman, Christian Cox, and Chase Christensen were all perfect from the plate for Bountiful.

REGION 14

JUAN DIEGO 11, SOUTH SUMMIT 1: Ben Dino pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts, and Robbie Schultz went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI.

NONREGION

TAYLORSVILLE 11, PLEASANT GROVE 1: Jason Bennion and Taylor Romero each had two hits and two RBIs to lead Taylorsville.

SOFTBALL

REGION 2

HILLCREST 11, BRIGHTON 2: Whitney Morris had two hits, two runs and two RBI for Hillcrest. Brighton remains winless in Region 2.

REGION 3

HUNTER 3, SKYLINE 0: Ashley Christianson knocked a two-run home run to lead Hunter.

TAYLORSVILLE 10, COTTONWOOD 0: Dabney Sundquist, Staci Hemingway, Britney McReynolds, Bree Shober, and Mary Van Beekum all had two hits.

NONREGION

OGDEN 11, MORGAN 9: Ogden knocked in six runs in the second inning to pull away.

SOCCER

REGION 10

GRANITE 2, UNION 1 (2OT): Granite (2-6-2) to put away winless Uintah.

PARK CITY 1, UINTAH 0: Nate Zimmerman scored the lone goal for the Miners (7-2-1), while Rock Christensen earned the shutout.

WASATCH 3, JUDGE MEMORIAL 0: Bedane Kennard, Josh Goode, and Ammon Wheatley all scored for the Wasps.

REGION 14

ROWLAND HALL 2, ST. JOSEPH 1: Rowland Hall rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to earn a berth into the playoffs. Mark Peterson had 12 saves.

REGION 17

MOUNT VERNON 6, DESERET ACADEMY 0: Jeremy Fowlks drilled three- first-half goals.

NONREGION

CHRISTIAN HERITAGE 3, LAYTON CHRISTIAN 2: John Merrigan scored two goals after Christian Heritage trailed 0-2 at the half.

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