Britney Thompson attracts a lot of attention as she stands on the pitcher's mound forcing good hitters to question their ability. But to win a state softball title in her final year of high school it took two games, almost five hours, and a little help from her friends — including some soccer stars.
Just as the Viewmont Vikings got up to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning of their second game against Jordan Thursday, the recently victorious Viking soccer team emerged at the top of the stands shouting, "Yeah, Viewmont!" The boys were still in uniform after an overtime 1-0 win against Brighton, and the crowd responded with huge applause and the team with smiles and cheers.
"That was awesome," said catcher Jessie Thomas, who went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run in the championship. "That really picked us up a lot. The whole crowd did."
Viewmont already had the runs it would need to secure the school's first-ever softball title, but the mental boost helped push the fatigue from the minds of the Vikings as they held the defending state champions to just one run in a 6-1 win.
Thompson pitched extremely well, but the Beetdiggers managed to force the Viking defense to make five errors in the championship game. Jordan, however, was unable to capitalize on the mistakes, scoring just one run in the game's first inning.
"Britney's tough," said Jordan coach Steve Hendricks, shaking his head. "She can pitch, she can hit, she can throw and she can run. She's a great pitcher, and we just didn't get it together."
The Beetdiggers were in a great position after defeating Viewmont 6-3 in their second game of the day. To get the chance to play for the title, Jordan had to beat second-ranked Taylorsville at 10 a.m., which they did 8-4. Both Belinda Cardenas and Chelcee LePrey pitched in that game, with LePrey earning the win. Cardenas started for just the second time in the tournament, and her style was so different from LePrey's it threw the Vikings off balance.
"She had a great change-up," said Viking coach Cyndee Bennett after winning her first title. It will be her last with Viewmont as she's moving to Las Vegas next year. "Cardenas did an outstanding job. It took us 12 or 13 innings to finally catch up to her. I thought it was smart on their part to use her for the second game also because we'd seen Chelcee."
But the Vikings began to hit Cardenas in the third inning, including Thomas' home run, so Hendricks switched to LePrey in the fourth inning. The Vikings managed just three more hits and one additional run, and some of that was because the Beetdigger defense was outstanding.
Thompson threw both games for Viewmont, and while she admitted she was tired, she said she looked to her teammates to keep her in the game.
"They're awesome, especially the seniors," she said.
The team got a little help from a team they rolled over on their way to their first softball championship, too.
"We got a little pep talk from Bingham coach Bob Lewis," said Viewmont shortstop Tara Evans, who hit a single that drove in two runs. In addition to telling them they should hit the ball like they did when they annihilated the Miners, he told the team "to stay up. He said we were good."
Added centerfielder Kimmee Lewis, "He told us not to put our heads down."
The team listened to Bingham's coach and took his advice to heart. Bennett said they changed from a team playing not to lose to a team that wanted to win.
"It feels so good," said senior leftfielder Holly Hutchins. "Like all our hard work paid off."
And beating a team like Jordan, ranked no. 1 all year and undefeated until the Vikings beat them Wednesday night, well, as Evans put it, "That just makes it all a little sweeter."
In the two earlier games Thursday:
JORDAN 8, TAYLORSVILLE 4: The Beetdiggers had to play catch-up in the first game of the day for the defending 5A champions. Two big innings were all they needed to over take the Warriors, who've been working their way through the loser's bracket since the lost to Alta last Thursday.
Both teams used two pitchers with Jordan senior Chelcee LePrey earning the win for the Beetdiggers. Teammate Belinda Cardenas had the game's only extra base hit with a double in the fourth inning that drove in Normandy Jackson.
JORDAN 6, VIEWMONT 3: Both teams had plenty of opportunity to win this first game of the championship match-up. Viewmont scored its runs first when Oakley Wardrop singled to left field in the top of the fourth inning. Then a bunt by Crystal Shegrud moved Wardrop and a throwing error by Jordan allowed Shegrud to stay on first. Both runners scored when Holly Hutchins hit an infield grounder, but the Beetdiggers again made a bad throw to first base.
Cardenas then struck out Viewmont pitcher Britney Thompson to end the inning. Jordan countered with two runs, one of which scored on a walk, and the other, Cassidee LePrey stole home to tie the game in the top of the fifth. But Jordan found their offensive game in the extra inning as they scored four runs and then held Viewmont to a single run. Emily Cardenas, Noelle Jones and Chelcee LePrey each had hits for Jordan that drove in runs in the extra inning.
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com