Mountain West Softball peaks in the championship moment, rides comeback to claim 16u TC Fastpitch World Series title

By Bob Judson

OGDEN, UT — When Mountain West (Northern Utah) softball fell behind the BSC Bengals (St. George, Utah) by a 5-1 count after the first inning of the Triple Crown 16u Fastpitch World Series title game Saturday, there was not a sense of panic among their players.

After all, the final game of the tournament was scheduled for seven innings without a time limit, so there were still six more opportunities to rally back.

Turns out, Mountain West only needed five innings to take the title.

Mountain West scored runs in all five innings and run-ruled the Bengals 12-5 in the Gold Mountain Championship contest at the Weber County Softball Complex.

“Our team never gets down on ourselves; we stay positive throughout everything,” Mountain West designated hitter Bonnie Barnett said.  “After they scored five runs, we felt we had so much time remaining in the game that we had a chance to get the runs back.  We knew we needed to aim for base hits and not big hits.”

With a quick run in the top of the first inning, Mountain West was off on the right foot, but starting pitcher Emma Harrow was only able to get one out in the bottom half before BSC put up a five spot and chased her. Veyda Simon and Nelyana Brinagh both hit two-run homers for the Bengals in the inning.

Mountain West’s players counseled after the pitching change to gather their thoughts.

“We knew we could hit the ball; we just had to get our bats on it,” Barnett said.  “We all trust in each other that we’ll hit the ball hard and we can score runs later in the game.”

Sooner than later, Mountain West tied the game, 5-5, plating four runs in the top of the second inning. Barnett grounded a two-run single that scored the tying runs.  “I was aiming for a hit in the gap to move the runners and it just happened,” she said.

A base hit by Rita Tavita in the top of the third inning broke the tie at 6-5, and put Mountain West ahead for good.

Mountain West had left four runners on in the first three innings and was unable to cash in with a key hit. Things changed in the fourth when Barnett smashed a three-run dinger, making the score 9-5.

“I was aiming for a line drive in the five-six hole to move the runners again, but it ended up going over,” Barnett said.  “Usually, my hits bounce over the fence, but this weekend I was lucky.”

Mountain West put the run rule in effect with three more runs in the fifth inning when Barnett drove in her sixth run of the game with a two-out single.

Camryn O’Farrell had four hits and scored two runs from the leadoff spot for Mountain West.  First baseman Kenya Lapuaho went 3-for-4 with two doubles, while Jewel Korth, Morgan Rich and Lexi Hardman added two hits each.  Hardman scored three runs.  Mountain West rapped 17 hits overall.

Both teams were playing their third games of the day and Tavita had just pitched in game two, an hour before the championship bout. She came on in relief in the bottom of the first following the BSC five-run outburst and escaped without further damage, stranding a pair of Bengal runners.

“We were planning on a half game each; I was still pretty warm,” Tavita said.  “The first inning was a little unexpected, but you just have to come back and stay steady and we did a good job of that.”

Tavita pitched 4 2/3 innings, yielding only one hit, while striking out six and walking two, with no runs allowed.

“I’m more so getting the ball on the ground and let my defense work for me, but today was a different story.  I decided to go a little faster and place the ball better–definitely my drop ball and changeup worked really well for this game,” Tavita said.  Just making sure no more runs were scored, and keeping it easy ground balls; getting them to swing.”

Nine games in five days finally caught up with Harrow, but she was a major factor that helped Mountain West to the championship game.

“Emma has pitched so much this week; she got us to this point and we let Rita come in and she took over,” Mountain West coach Tiffany Jackson said.  “(Emma) knew her team had her back, because she has always had theirs.  She pitched lights out all week.”

“These girls have worked so hard.  Some of them have been together since 12u and up.  They have the chemistry and they’re really good friends.  They get so excited for each other to make plays and come up with the big hit,” Jackson said.

The arduous schedule this week has been a great growth experience and learning curve for the Mountain West players.

“We’ve been behind the last couple of games, and they were like, ‘we can do this;’ knowing that it’s seven innings. They came in joking, like we have six innings left guys,” Jackson said.  “Let’s do it one at a time; get it back, be patient and wait for our pitch. They were very calm with the whole thing.  We have two great pitchers who work on hitting their spots and getting grounders–not feeling the pressure and let their defense help them.”