Two championships in Class 4A were scheduled to be decided on Saturday across the state in baseball and softball. The baseball laurels will have to wait, thanks to rain on Friday, but the Tooele Buffaloes took advantage of good weather to grab their eighth softball title in school history.
Tooele beat Spanish Fork 3-1 in the second meeting of the day between those two schools. Sophomore Attlyn Johnston pitched a complete game victory for the Buffaloes, who won their first title since 2010.
The final games of the 4A softball tournament were played in Spanish Fork and the Dons, who were after their seventh school championship, beat Bear River 8-6 in eight innings in an elimination contest to start the day.
In the first meeting between Tooele and Spanish Fork, the Buffaloes grabbed a 2-0 lead behind early solo home runs from juniors Bryerly Avina in the first inning and Natalee Bevan in the second.
But Tooele’s defense let down in the fifth and sixth innings, committing four errors, as Spanish Fork scored five runs and ultimately forced another game with a 5-2 win.
Entering the day, the Buffaloes were the only team in the 4A draw without a defeat in the two-loss elimination format.
In the finale, Tooele (27-3) got two runs in the second inning. The first score came when Bevan, who had doubled to start the frame, stole third and then crossed the plate on a wild throw trying to catch her stealing.
Emma Higley then singled and scored on an Avina double for a 2-0 lead. In the third Higley hit an RBI single for another run. Spanish Fork (29-8) got one back in the fifth when Briley Young, who pitched both games against Tooele, singled and then scored on a sacrifice bunt by Marae Condie.
The Class 4A baseball tournament, originally slated to be played in Ogden on Friday and Saturday, was rescheduled and moved. The tournament will resume on Monday at Dixie State in St. George with Salem Hills playing Desert Hills in a battle of the tourney’s only remaining unbeaten squads. The loser of that contest will also play Monday against the winner of the Spanish Fork/Dixie game.