No. 1 Riverton and No. 2 Bingham faced off Thursday for the third time this year in the first part of a best-of-three state championship series.
The two teams played to a familiar result, with Riverton getting its third victory over Bingham by a score of 5-4.
“I knew coming into the state championship we were going to be tested. We’ve been preparing for this. We’re taking the same approach, and we’re taking it one pitch at a time.” — Riverton coach Katelyn Elliott
While Riverton won, the Miners gave the Silverwolves their first test of this week’s 6A state softball tournament. Riverton rolled into the final having outscored tournament opponents 54-1 before facing a tough Bingham squad.
“I knew coming into the state championship we were going to be tested,” Silverwolves’ head coach Katelyn Elliott said. “We’ve been preparing for this. We’re taking the same approach, and we’re taking it one pitch at a time.”
Riverton’s preparation led to good results on the diamond Thursday. The Silverwolves scored first, jumping on the board in the second inning. Freshman Kyli Carrell knocked in University of Hawaii-bound Chloe Borges, making the score 1-0.
Riverton would strike again in the third on a hard-hit ground ball off the bat of sophomore catcher Mariyah Delgado, whose single escaped the outstretched glove of diving Miner second baseman Braxtyn Hunter, allowing Charity Drake to cross home plate for the Silverwolves.
Bingham finally cracked Riverton’s code in the fourth, scoring more runs than the Silverwolves had allowed in their last six games combined. The Miners used back-to-back home runs to do it, taking a 3-2 lead in the process.
Sophomore center fielder Shelbee Jones tied the game on a shot over the left-center fence that brought home junior shortstop Noe Barawis from first base, and Emily Dority kept things going for the Miners with a solo homer to center field.
Elliott kept her team calm following Bingham’s three-run fourth.
“Focus on the process,” Elliott told her team. “Focus on every pitch, one pitch at a time. Control the controllables. All the mental aspects of the game that we’ve been working on all year.”
Facing its first deficit of the tournament, Riverton would regain momentum and the lead with its own three-run inning in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Jolie Mayfield tied things up at 3 with a solo blast over the fence near the left field foul line that required an umpires conference.
“I was just jogging around the bases hoping that (the umpire) would circle his fingers. I’m glad he did,” Mayfield said. “I was expecting it to be foul, honestly. I think that kind of started the inning up and gave us a lot of momentum to win the game.”
Following Mayfield’s homer, Riverton used three singles, a Bingham error and a sacrifice fly to add two more runs to its tally and take a 5-3 lead into the final inning.
The Miners didn’t go easily, loading up the bases in the seventh with only one out. An Avery King single to right field brought in Averi Hanny for the score, inching Bingham within one run.
The Silverwolves would quickly squelch the Miners’ last hopes of winning Game 1 though, forcing two consecutive infield pop-ups to end the initial contest.
Riverton’s hard work is one game away from paying off. The second game of the state championship series will be played Friday at 11 a.m. at Spanish Fork Sports Complex. A third game, if necessary, will immediately follow.