×
×
homepage logo
SUBSCRIBE

Lehi softball rallies past Springville, set to face Spanish Fork in 5A title game

By Jared Lloyd - | May 25, 2022
1 / 11
Lehi players celebrate with freshman Sophie Bliss after she hit a home run during the 5A playoff game against Springville at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
2 / 11
Lehi freshman Sophie Bliss celebrates after she hit a home run during the 5A playoff game against Springville at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
3 / 11
Lehi senior Maci Wall slides safely into home during the 5A playoff game against Springville at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
4 / 11
Spanish Fork players congratulate junior pitcher Avery Sapp after she got a strikeout during the 5A playoff game against Bountiful at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
5 / 11
Lehi senior Jamisyn Heaton celebrates hitting an RBI single during the 5A playoff game against Springville at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
6 / 11
A Springville player beats the thow during the 5A playoff game against Lehi at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
7 / 11
A Springville batter hits the ball during the 5A playoff game against Lehi at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
8 / 11
Spanish Fork players celebrate with junior Payton Hall after she hit a home run during the 5A playoff game against Bountiful at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
9 / 11
A Spanish Fork batter watches a pitch during the 5A playoff game against Bountiful at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
10 / 11
Skyridge pitcher Heather Berrett throws a pitch during the 6A playoff game against West at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
11 / 11
Skyridge players celebrate scoring a run during the 6A playoff game against West at the Cottonwood Complex on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.

State softball semifinals … two-run lead … bottom of the seventh … bases loaded … two outs … full count.

It doesn’t get much more dramatic than it did for Lehi senior pitcher Grace Humes as she toed the rubber in the final inning of the elimination game against Springville at the Cottonwood Complex Wednesday afternoon.

What was she thinking in that critical moment?

“I don’t even know what I was thinking,” Humes said. “I just had to throw. I just got up there and threw it. I wasn’t trying to think about it.”

She actually had extra pressure, since for the first time this season she was calling her own pitches as well.

“She even got hit in the shin twice and you could tell it hurt,” Pioneer head coach Tim Kennedy said. “But she wanted to finish, so we gave her the ball.”

But when that moment came, Humes was up to the challenge. She first the ball across for the final strike of the game, giving Lehi the heart-stopping 4-2 win over the Red Devils and a spot in the 5A title game.

“It was amazing,” Humes said. “I’m just so proud of this team and how far we’ve made it. I’m very happy to be headed to the championship with this group. We’re going to go give it our all, give it everything we have.”

Heading into the final inning, things looked grim for the Pioneers.

Not only had they dropped the first game of the day to Springville, 7-3, but the Red Devils had stymied the Lehi offense and had a 2-0 lead.

“I kept saying in the second and third and fourth, every inning that we just needed to get a couple of runs to tie it,” Kennedy said. “We needed to get one and then turn it into two and see what happened. In the end, they came through.”

A couple of hits set the stage for freshman Sophie Bliss, who stepped up and hammered a huge three-run home run over the right field fence.

“That was amazing,” Humes said. “She’s been such a good teammate and a really good player. We love her and we were happy for her. It was awesome.”

The Pioneers got an insurance RBI from senior Jamisyn Heaton to build the two-run lead, but Springville refused to go down without a fight.

“I’m so proud of their effort,” Red Devil head coach Jill Thackeray said. “They fought. We’ve been here since 8:30 a.m. and now it’s 5:30 p.m. They gave everything they had, I just told them that sometimes things just don’t bounce your way. But they did a lot of good things today to be proud of.”

Although Springville saw its season come to an end, it was a fantastic showing for the young Red Devils (who had to beat Uintah, 9-3 to even get the opportunity to play Lehi).

“You can’t say enough about our senior, Saige Ewing, and what she meant to this program,” Thackeray said. “She fought her heart out today. But we also have a lot of promise for the future and this should give them a lot of motivation for the years to come.”

It was Lehi, however, that advanced to face top-seeded Spanish Fork in the best-of-three 5A title series.

The Dons earned their ticket to the finals by shutting down Bountiful, 3-0, in the other semifinal. Spanish Fork didn’t allow a single run during their three games this week.

“It’s pretty cool for us to go to the championship,” Kennedy said. “I don’t usually get emotional when we win but today I got emotional. Our goal is to win this thing. We’ve played some good teams and faced some good pitchers. We haven’t always fared well but we always compete. We’re looking forward to it.”

The Dons and Pioneers will play the first game of the championship at BYU’s Gail Miller Field in Provo on Thursday at 4 p.m., with the second game (and third, if necessary) being played on Friday.

Things didn’t go as well in the 6A competition for Skyridge, who battled but lost twice to West, 2-1 and 9-6. The Panthers advance to face Riverton in the 6A finals.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)