The stranglehold has finally been broken.
After seven years of state softball championships dominated by Bingham and Alta, the Taylorsville Warriors put a new name in the record books.Sophomore Kari Satterfield's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning brought home the winning run as Taylorsville claimed the 5A state title by defeating Alta 4-3 at the Cottonwood Complex Friday.
Ironies aplenty came about because of Satterfield's game-winning at-bat. Normally in the lineup as the designated hitter, Taylorsville head coach Rich Kaelin decided to have pitcher Allysha St. Clair bat for herself instead.
That left Satterfield available for duty in the field, for which she was called upon after a controversial play at home plate in the bottom of the sixth inning. A collision between Taylorsville shortstop Brit Staveley and Alta catcher Andy Anderson resulted in a 10-minute umpire discussion and the eventual ejection of Staveley after the play was ruled a "malicious" hit.
In the top of the seventh, Satterfield watched the ball roll under her glove on a hit by Alta's T.C. Jones that tied the score at 3-3. Then in the bottom half of the inning, Satterfield came to the plate with one out and the bases loaded and sent a 1-1 pitch far enough into left field that Kristan Platt was able to score from third and give the Warriors the title.
"I was just hoping it would make up for the error I made in the field," Satterfield said of her at-bat. "That would have ended the game there."
The win not only avenged a 2-0 loss to the Hawks on Thursday, but fulfilled a year-long goal of the Warriors, who lost in last year's championship game to Bingham.
"I've been telling the bench all year long that it's up to them to make or break a game," said Taylorsville head coach Rich Kaelin. "Our bench ended up winning the game for us."
Alta had to defeat Roy 2-0 earlier in the day just to get to the title game, as Hawks pitcher Tiffany Yeates tossed a one-hitter for the win.
Yeates had given up just five hits and struck out 12 in her previous 17 tournament innings, but allowed five hits to the Warriors and at the end of the game looked every bit the part of having pitched nearly every inning of the tournament.
"After pitching six games in three days she'll have a tough time brushing her teeth in the morning," said Alta head coach Vaughn Alvey.
Despite the loss, a second place finish was more than expected of the Hawks, who returned just two starters from last year's team.
"It's exceptional that a group of kids young and inexperienced could come together so quickly," said Alvey. "It was really impressive to watch."