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Taylorsville • Jordan Theurer woke up sick, nervous to her core about Bear River's Class 3A championship game against Spanish Fork and the possibility of the Bears winning an unprecedented fifth consecutive title
Then she started pitching, and it got worse. The only movement on her pitches came when they were swatted past her, into the field. Finally, in the third and final inning, Theurer was pulled from the circle to rest.
It wasn't the junior's day. Until it was.
After losing 16-0 in the first game in the championship series of the double elimination tournament Monday at Salt Lake Community College, Theurer led Bear River in an unimaginable turnabout as the Bears won the second game 8-0 and set a state record for most consecutive softball championships.
"She was different that second game," Bear River coach Calvin Bingham said. "Just completely different."
After Bear River allowed 16 hits in the three-inning first game, Spanish Fork, which won the Class 4A softball title a year ago, scattered just six hits in the second, and Theurer twice pitched her team out of bases-loaded jams.
"I just told myself to forget about the last game and come out as strong as I could," Theurer said.
She and the rest of the Bears did just that.
It wasn't just the pitching, either. The Bears jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning. A bases-loaded, two-RBI single by senior Shaunie Owen opened the floodgates, and the hits kept coming.
"After the first game the whole team got together and we just decided, 'Hey, this is stupid —we didn't come this far for nothing,' " sophomore shortstop Erin Fox said. " 'We didn't come this far to roll over and die, let's go get it.' "
In the third inning, Spanish Fork loaded the bases, but senior Sydney Butler struck out looking. In the fifth, with no outs, Theurer struck out one and Fox fielded two lazy fly balls at shortstop.
Spanish Fork came within a game of an astonishing run to the title through the consolation bracket. After losing in 10 innings in the quarterfinals to Bear River on Saturday, the Dons scored 64 runs in four games before being shut out in Monday's second game.
"That's the seventh time we've won state since I've been coaching," Bingham said, "but that's the sweetest, because we played an outstanding team. Spanish Fork is the best team we've played in the state championship finals."
Twitter: @oramb —
Bear River claims 3A softball title
• After Bear River loses 16-0 in three innings, the Bears rally to win the state championship with an 8-0 victory in the championship series against Spanish Fork.
• For the second straight year, junior Jordan Theurer earns the win for the Bears.
• Bear River sets a state record for most consecutive state softball championships.