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Skyridge players were all smiles following their 11-8 win over Westlake on Thursday. May 14, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

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Maddie Budge and Callie Baker celebrate a run scored during Skyridge's 11-8 win over Westlake. May 14, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

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Callie Baker finishes off a pitch dealt to Westlake during regional action on Thursday. May 14, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

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Skyridge senior Maylee Walston hits an RBI double during her team's 11-8 win over Westlake on Thursday. May 14, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

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Westlake's Devi Tu'ivai powers a home run to cut into Skyridge's lead during regional action on Thursday. May 14, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

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Regions may realign yet rivalries still remain, and that was certainly the case when No. 10 Skyridge squared off versus No. 7 Westlake during regional action on Thursday.

For years the two teams resided within the same region, forging a type of rivalry that made the Falcon’s 11-8 win perhaps a bit more satisfying that otherwise.

“Ever since Skyridge has been around Westlake has been a huge rival,” said Skyridge coach Tyler Plewe. “They got us the last couple of times before they went to a different region, so we love having the opportunity to come back and play them in the state tournament because we know it’s going to be a battle like you saw today.”

The two teams battled throughout, with the Thunder taking an early lead before the Falcons stormed back in the middle innings with Plewe’s team doing just enough to fend off a late rally to secure a thrilling opening game win of the 3-game regional series.

“Westlake is a great team with some really good hitters, and they gave us all we could handle today like I knew they would,” Plewe said. “But I’m so proud of my girls for sticking to our gameplan and coming out on top.”

One of Plewe’s prouder moments was expressed in earnest when his daughter, Isabella Plewe made a full dive toward a ball hit to right field which she ultimately snared to help halt the Thunder’s rally.

“That’s the game of softball. One play made, good or bad, can go a long way in changing the outcome,” Coach Plewe said. “I’m going to pick on her a bit because she’s my daughter and she dropped two balls hit to her earlier in the game. But instead of sulking because of it she came back and made that great play and one just a little while before that. Those are winning plays, and they were happening all over the field today. Some of them were very noticeable, but then others were a bit more subtle, but just as necessary.”

Perhaps some of the more subtle plays were made when Coach Plewe pulled his starting pitcher, Callie Baker in favor of Alyssa Atcitty in the bottom of the seventh inning with Skyridge clinging to its 3-run lead. Sure, Atcitty ended up issuing consecutive bases-on-balls to load the bases before Coach Plewe opted to hand the ball back to Baker, but it could have been a lot worse.

“Alyssa did exactly what we asked her to do,” Coach Plewe said. “The two hitters she faced hit probably the longest home runs today that I’ve ever seen. So I asked her to keep the ball on the corners and get some ground balls, and that’s exactly what she did. Several calls were close that didn’t go our way, so she ended up walking both of them and she’s feeling a bit bummed about it. But hey, it’s a lot better than either of them hitting home runs.”

The two Westlake home runs were hit by Devi Tu’ivai and Audrey Sherman making the need to pitch a bit around both of them paramount in securing the outcome.

As for Skyridge’s own runs scored, most of the work was done during the third and fourth innings.

Westlake set out to an early 4-1 lead after two innings played before the Falcons strung together multiple doubles to the outfield to put up five runs in the third to take a 6-4 lead. The following inning saw Coach Plewe’s team beat out three ground balls, creating a lot of traffic on the bases which ultimately accounted for three more runs and a commanding 9-4 lead.

“Without talking about gameplans too much, I really want to give kudos to the girls for executing the exact things we haven’t done all that well, but needed to do today,” Coach Plewe said. “Hustling down the line and beating out ground balls was definitely one of those things and they all did great with that today. We call it ‘action’ and we really did a great job creating action and scoring runs. They all really responded well and I couldn’t be happier with that as a coach.”

Leading the effort was Eden Rose with her three RBI on the day followed by Maylee Walston, who brought two runners around to score with her two hits on the afternoon. Altogether eight of the nine batters in the Falcon’s order contributed hits with seven of the nine batters scoring runs.

“It was a really good start for us today, but we have to come back tomorrow and be just as good,” Coach Plewe said. “Westlake is going to give us everything they have and they’re a great team that is very well-coached. So we’re going to have to be ready.”