SPANISH FORK — As soon as Tooele catcher Ashley Arbon slid safely into home plate for the Buffalos' go-ahead run, Coach Barry Pitt knew he could finally change his clothes.
"I told her to be ready to go on a passed ball," he said after Tooele won its second-straight 3A softball title by beating Bear River 2-1 on Saturday at the Spanish Fork Sports Park. Arbon stood on third in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to the triple she hit over the left fielder's head. Then came what seemed like a gift — a wild pitch that hit the backstop — and Arbon slid home under the tag.
"I knew that was it," Pitt said. It made the score 2-1, the same as four of the five games between these two teams this season. And then his wife straightened his collar and reminded him that this meant he could finally put on clean clothes.
"Would you wash your clothes?" he asked those standing around him. As long as Tooele was winning, Pitt put on the same clothes every day — no matter how bad they smelled. Whether the outfit he wore three days in a row helped or not, no one may ever know, but as tough as this year has been for Tooele, Pitt wasn't taking any chances.
"It just seemed a lot harder this year," Pitt said. "I think we had a better team this year, but I think Bear River had a better team this year, too."
  | |
Arbon was outstanding for the Buffaloes the entire tournament with big hits right when they needed them. The senior scored both of Tooele's runs in the championship game. The first was in the bottom of the fourth when she hit a single to right field and then scored on Meghan Wilson's grounder to the shortstop.
The Bears had taken a 1-0 lead after catcher Malee Gardner got to first when she was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt moved her to second and then she scored on Erica Park's hit to centerfield. In the end, it was the runners the Bears left on base that haunted them most — all six of them in scoring position, and twice with either no outs or one out.
"I'm still mighty proud of these girls," said Bear River coach Calvin Bingham. He blamed himself for the wild pitch that allowed Arbon to score the winning run.
"When we had two strikes on her, I called a timeout because I wanted to make sure we didn't pitch (Charise) Herrera a changeup. She has really fast wrists, and I was afraid she'd get around on it. I told (Chadaz) to throw it high or low, and so I'll take the blame for that high pitch. Maybe it would have been alright if I'd just let the kids play."
Bingham has had incredible success with the softball team, making appearances in four of the past five softball state championship games and winning two titles. One of those was when Arbon was a freshman and the Bears came through the loser's bracket and beat Tooele twice for the title.
Even though it was four years ago, Arbon said it was still in the back of her mind.
"We didn't want what happened when we were freshman to happen today," she said. And while everyone knew they might have to play the Bears twice today if they lost the first game, they all kept quiet about that subject.
"We knew this game would be tough," she said. "We didn't talk about playing them a second time."
Tooele pitcher Lindsey Palmer had a rough outing Friday against the Bears and teammate Meghan Wilson came in to relieve her and helped the team win that semifinal game. She was mad at herself, but said she knew she'd be on the mound again today.
"I probably felt a little pressure, but I didn't pay attention to it," the sophomore said. "I just do what I know I have to do for us to win."
Class 3A All-Tournament Team
MVP: Ashley Arbon, Tooele, catcher
Infielders
Staci Patch, Tooele
Brandi Allen, Tooele
Amy Webb, Bear River
Jessica Aagard, North Sanpete
Lindsey Thompson, Snow Canyon
Outfielders
Kailee Christiansen, North Sanpete
Kylie Bronson, Bear River
Haylee McFarland, Tooele
Kylee Steadman, Lehi
Catchers
Malee Gardner, Bear River
Megan Zimmerman, Lehi
Pitchers
Erica Park, Bear River
Meghan Wilson, Tooele
Lindsay Palmer, Tooele
Designated Player
Jessica Fronk, Bear River
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com