Sometimes that’s all you need. Someone to get that first big hit … then you have momentum and everyone gets into it. – Maple Mountain coach Cassie Reese
TAYLORSVILLE — When a brief rainstorm stopped the 4A softball state semifinal game between Maple Mountain and Box Elder, the fans at the Valley Complex headed for cover under the bleachers or got out their rain jackets and umbrellas.
The Golden Eagles, down 1-0 at the time, had their own solution.
They stood together in the downpour, sang songs and danced while their coaches smiled and shook their heads. Not long afterward, they rallied for a 3-2 victory and a berth in today’s 4:30 p.m. winner’s bracket game against fellow Region 8 rival Spanish Fork.
“They’re weird,” coach Cassie Reese said initially, smiling. “No. They were having fun. If they’re having fun, they’re doing well.”
Maple Mountain, the No. 3 seed that whipped Kearns in the tourney’s opening round and then throttled a top seed, Alta, in its previous two games, tied the game on a walk for Sidney Wilson to open the fifth inning. A pair of sacrifice bunts moved her to third base, and she scored on McKenzie Mecham’s single.
“Sometimes that’s all you need,” Reese said. “Someone to get that first big hit … then you have momentum and everyone gets into it.”
Box Elder retook a lead on a home run by Taylor Sorensen that cleared the right-center field fence with room to spare.
But that lead didn’t last long.
Maple Mountain, which had just two hits in the first five innings off Box Elder starter Bayleigh Merrill, greeted reliever Nyah DeRyke with four straight singles. Mickie Mills and Ellie Ashman got things started, then Alayna Ellis plated the tying run and Avery Reynolds brought home another with key hits.
Box Elder tried to rally against Maple Mountain pitcher Peyton Hunter, but to no avail. The Bees, the No. 1 seed from Region 5 that had blanked their first two tournament opponents, couldn’t get a runner past first base.
Instead of celebrating, many Maple Mountain players left the field quickly afterward. The Golden Eagles have four seniors who were forced to miss their graduation ceremony for this game and hoped to make it to Utah Valley University for at least the final minutes.
“I’m proud of the way they battled and came back,” Reese said. “Some of these kids had a lot on their mind. I love this tournament and all, but it’s so much better to stay in the winner’s bracket.”
Bruce Smith grew up in Boise and is a longtime newspaper sports writer. He writes primarily high-school sports articles for the Deseret News.