BY BOB JUDSON
OGDEN—SL Smoke (Cottonwood Heights, UT) left fielder Heather Park does not consider herself a long-ball hitter.
But, at 14 years of age, with her size and athleticism, Park will grow into that role as she gets older.
For now, Park can be happy with what she is, an efficient and effectively solid softball player at the plate.
Park was on base four times in four at bats on Tuesday at Fourth Street Park, helping her team smoke Oregon Blaze-Verbanic (Tigard, OR), 15-2, in the pool play round of the Triple Crown 14u World Series tournament.
Playing the second game of a back-to-back double header, Park felt like she had found her groove.
“The first game I had today was a little rough, then I picked up my confidence,” Park said. “I’m not a power hitter, so as long as I’m getting base hits and moving people along, I feel like I’m doing my job.”
Park produced three singles and a walk in her four trips to the box, drove in four runs and scored four times, for a stat line of 3 4 3 4.
“Things used to get in my head, but I’ve learned to reset my mind after every pitch–if I swing and miss, I’ll just get the next one,” Park said.
The Smoke stroked 17 hits on the way to run-ruling the Blaze in the four-inning blowout, batting around twice.
“We were all hitting really well; making good contact with the ball,” Park said. “It was a more slow pitcher so we had to sit on it and talked about that in the dugout.”
Leadoff batter Hanna Lino also scored four runs and had four hits, while Park did her damage from the number two hole.
SL Smoke scored three runs in the top of the first, then Oregon Blaze-Verbanic countered with both of its runs in the bottom half on a two-run double by catcher Ali Featherlin.
From there, Smoke hurler Taycee Metts pitched shutout ball over the final three frames.
“Just a little pre-game nervous; I just had to get used to it, then work as a team to build up our confidence,” Metts said.
Four runs in the top of the second gave the Smoke a comfortable 7-2 lead after two innings.
Additional four run spurts in the third and fourth innings led to the run-rule victory.
Metts scattered five hits during the four-inning complete game win, allowing only two runners over the last three innings. She walked two and did not strike out a batter.
“Keep it in the zone; my team has my back,” Metts said.
While the top of the order scored eight runs, the bottom two players added five more runs for the Smoke.
Janie Coats scored two runs from the eighth slot and Metts had three hits, scored three runs and an RBI from the ninth spot.
“Have a lot of confidence at the plate; do it for your team, don’t be selfish,” Metts said. “Just do it for you.”
Centerfielder Zoe Hazlett pounded three hits and drove in three runs for the Smoke.
