SYRACUSE — Before Syracuse High’s softball team saw a pitch on Monday, the Titans trailed 4-0 as a result of Clearfield’s good opening inning.

It didn’t take long for the No. 10 Titans to right their ship.

Three batters into the bottom of the first, sophomore shortstop Jazmine Prathan hit a two-run, opposite-field home run to left field that sparked an eight-run inning for Syracuse.

Eventually, the Titans (14-7) won 19-4 in four innings to beat the No. 23 Falcons 2-0 in their best-of-three-game 6A playoff series.

“First inning was a little rough — I know I had a couple errors — but we got back on it in the second and put the foot on the gas,” Prathan said.

Prathan’s homer was her team-high 12th of the year, and along with a .526 batting average, she’s been a huge boost for the Titans this season after transferring from Layton High.

She’s surprised herself with how well she’s done; her goals for the season were more toward getting to know her new teammates, rather than hit the cover off the ball.

Prathan batted .366 with zero homers as a freshman at Layton. The difference this year, she said, is a result of a lot of offseason work.

“I hit every single day. I try to get my field work every single day and I think I can put a little more field work in,” said Prathan, who added that she wants to improve her defense, especially at a busy spot on the field such as shortstop.

She started the year hitting a perfect 11 for 11 in the first four games, then hit a slow stretch the second half of the season as teams stopped pitching to her — she rarely sees a pitch inside — so Syracuse moved her down in the batting order and it’s worked out lately.

“We haven’t had offensive production like that ever, and she’s as good of a hitter as I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been doing this a long time,” SHS head coach Kelly Anderson said. “I think she’s fit in really well with our kids. She’s not shy, she works hard, she does good things, she’s got a chance to be really, really good and go places.”

Jaidyn Franco had the best day of anyone on Monday, going 4 for 4 with five RBIs, two triples and one double. That gave her a team-high 30 RBIs, trailed by Prathan and Grace Thomas’ 29.

Thomas homered to left field in the third inning, then her hard ground ball in the fourth brought three runners home and she beat the throw home herself. Prathan, Olivia Harker and Brooklyn Sackolwitz drove in two runs apiece.

Clearfield’s (3-21) Jenna Lloyd batted 3 for 3 with a double and Natalie Brierley drove in two runs for then Falcons.

Syracuse heads to No. 7 West for a second-round series starting at 4 p.m. Thursday. The Panthers won Region 2 with an unbeaten record and have 24 home runs as a team.

“If we don’t come ready to play, they’re going to beat us,” Anderson said. “I like what we’re doing, but we’ve got to pitch it better and play better defense to advance.”

SOFTBALL

FREMONT 18, ROY 4

Fremont wins the series 2-0

Reata O’Neal hit two home runs as No. 12 Fremont advanced to the second round of the 6A tournament. The Silverwolves start a best-of-three series at No. 5 Pleasant Grove on Thursday at 4 p.m.

O’Neal had five RBIs for Fremont (14-9-1). Savannah Palmatier and Jessica Broadbent homered, and Audrey Cooper had three RBIs. Azylee Sessions pitched three scoreless innings with six strikeouts.

Roy (6-15) led 4-2 going into the bottom of the second inning.

DAVIS 11, LONE PEAK 2

Davis wins the series 2-0

Laney Tuft hit two homers with four RBIs to send No. 13 Davis (14-8) to the second round.

Jewel Korth batted 3 for 4 and Sydney Marrelli hit a triple. Serena Roth pitched a complete game and struck out nine.

The Darts start their second-round, best-of-three series at No. 4 Bingham on Thursday at 4 p.m.

PAYSON 0 & 11, NORTHRIDGE 8 & 3

Northridge freshman Aubrie Salmon pitched a complete-game shutout for No. 20 Northridge, which won 8-0 and forced a third game in its 5A first-round series against No. 13 Payson, but the Knights lost the third game 11-3.

Amaya Porter and Kaylee Sherreffs homered for the Knights (9-16) in the first game.

SCORES, NO STATS REPORTED

6A 1st round: West Jordan 10, Layton 9 (WJ wins series 2-0)

BASEBALL

LAYTON 9, KEARNS 1

Layton wins the series 2-0

Aiden Sampson allowed two hits over five innings pitched and No. 12 Layton moved on to the 6A tournament’s second round.

Eli Anderson batted 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a triple for Layton (16-10). Fish Manning tripled and went 2 for 3. Gunnar Wolfe and Sam Godfrey had two RBIs each.

Layton will play at No. 5 Mountain Ridge (Herriman) to start a second-round, best-of-three series at 4 p.m. Thursday.

SYRACUSE 18, GRANGER 1

Syracuse wins the series 2-0

No. 14 Syracuse had a 12-run second inning and won in five innings. Tatum Martin drove in four runs for Syracuse (13-13), Broc Hopkins batted 2 for 3 with three RBIs and Jaden Keblis allowed no earned runs in five innings pitched.

The Titans face No. 3 Fremont starting at 4 p.m. Thursday in a second-round, best-of-three series.

DAVIS 4 & 3, HERRIMAN 17 & 2

Davis wins the series 2-1

After dropping Monday’s first game 17-4, No. 16 Davis scored a go-ahead run in the sixth inning to beat No. 17 Herriman in the teams’ first-round playoff series.

Andrew Filimoehala pitched a complete game and struck out nine, with two walks against four hits and two runs allowed for the Darts (12-16).

Davis heads to No. 1 Skyridge for a second-round series starting at 4 p.m. Thursday.

LONE PEAK 11, WEBER 2

Lone Peak wins the series 2-0

Ian Carver batted 2 for 3 with a homer and two RBIs, and Ashton Burnett hit 2 for 3 as No. 22 Weber’s (6-19) season ended.

WESTLAKE 6, ROY 4

Westlake wins the series 2-0

No. 18 Roy gave up a 4-1 lead and saw its season end at No. 15 Westlake.

Samuel Smith batted 2 for 3 for Roy (10-17), Wyatt Kline hit a double with two RBIs and Cade Gaskill batted 2 for 3 with one RBI.

BINGHAM 8, FARMINGTON 7

Bingham wins the series 2-0

No. 20 Farmington led 7-3 in the fourth inning, but No. 13 Bingham roared back to end the Phoenix’s season.

Easton Wight batted 2 for 4 with a double for Farmington (8-19) and Mitch Nielsen had two RBIs with a double.

TAYLORSVILLE 4, CLEARFIELD 3

Taylorsville wins the series 2-0

No. 9 Taylorsville grabbed a walk-off win that ended No. 24 Clearfield’s season. Peyton Kotter batted 2 for 4 with one RBI for Clearfield (4-23). Cody Brockman and Colt Chambers had one RBI.

WOODS CROSS 5 & 7, BOX ELDER 7 & 5

No. 16 Box Elder forced a third game in its 5A first-round playoff series, but No. 17 Woods Cross won the decisive third game.

In the first game, a 7-5 Box Elder win, Tyler Redington homered and drove in three runs for the Bees. Ryan Griffin hit 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

In the second game, Box Elder (13-10-1) trailed 7-3 going to the bottom of the seventh and scored two runs but couldn’t complete the comeback. Redington and Cooper Stevenson homered, while Tallin Chappell batted 2 for 3.

SNOW CANYON 3, BEAR RIVER 2

In the bracket play portion of the 4A state tournament at BYU, No. 8 Bear River led 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning before Snow Canyon’s Ryder Harrison hit a walk-off, two-run homer.

Talon Marble batted 2 for 3 with one RBI for Bear River (15-10) and Degan Rigby pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs.

The Bears face No. 5 Desert Hills at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in an elimination game.

Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.

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