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West Valley City • Springville junior Kaycie Jenson is one confident softball player.

You know, the way a standout player should be as her team gets closer and closer to a state championship.

But even Jenson admitted wavering a little bit when Maple Mountain's Bayley Witney, who was on the verge of striking out to end a Class 4A winners bracket semifinal, suddenly launched a long ball deep to left.

So deep, in fact, that the ball hit the base of the fence and Witney got to third on a triple. Her wallop drove home a run and put Maple Mountain within one - but that was all for the Golden Eagles Tuesday afternoon.

Jenson settled down and induced a groundout from the next batter and Springville had a 3-2 victory over its region rivals.

"I was calm the entire time, even when they had a lead," Jenson said. "I was pretty relaxed."

Even during Witney's last-gasp drive that almost tied the game.

"No, I was a little bummed, but this is a game of inches," she said. "I guess we got lucky."

Maple Mountain (19-8) got an early run in the first inning when Witney drew a walk and eventually scored on an RBI-single by Avery Reynolds.

But Springville (26-4), which is now on a dozen-game winning streak, tied the contest in the third. Sadie Clark started that frame with a single and eventually reached both third and home on consecutive sacrifice flies by Tiana Ta'ala and Annie Anderson.

Anderson would, two innings later, play a crucial role just before Rylee Harris popped a two-run home to center to make the score 3-1.

At the time, the Red Devils had reached Maple Mountain pitcher Carley Guymon for only two hits. And Guyman, with two outs, was on the verge of cruising through a 1-2-3 fifth.

But Anderson, in a long at-bat, battled until she earned a walk to extend the inning long enough for Harris' blast.

"Huge, because if she's not on base that's a one-run game instead of a two-run game," said Springville coach Jill Thackeray of the base-on-balls. "And it kept the inning going, so Rylee could come up to bat."

It turns out the Red Devils needed every run, just has they have every time they've come across Maple Mountain's path.

Springville beat the Golden Eagles twice this year, by 3-2 and 2-1 counts, but also dropped one 5-4 contest in nine innings to its Region 8 foe.

"We played them down in St. George and in region. It's always a one-run game. I told them from the very beginning that it's going to be close," said Thackeray of her in-game talks with her players. "I didn't love how we started out. We were very tight and we let them dictate the tone.

"I told them, 'Relax,'" she added. "We've been here before and we needed to set the tone." —

Springville 3, Maple Mountain 2

• A two-run homer from Rylee Harris in the fifth breaks a 1-1 tie and ultimately sends Springville into the 4A winners' bracket final.

• Maple Mountain's Bayley Witney nearly tied the game when the Golden Eagles were down to their last out, but her drive to left hit off the base of the fence.

• Red Devils pitcher Kaycie Jenson allowed five hits for the Springville win.