High school softball: Miscue sparks Miners' comeback

SOUTH JORDAN — Bingham second baseman Meghan Herrick needed some consoling after she committed a mistake that cost her softball team a run in its first-place showdown with Riverton on Thursday afternoon.

But as it turned out, she probably deserved some congratulations for her miscue in the Miners' 6-3 win over the Silverwolves.

With Bingham trailing Riverton 3-0 in the third inning, Herrick blasted a solo home run that sailed well over the left-field fence. But when Herrick rounded the bases, she missed second base. Riverton caught the mistake, and touched the bag while Herrick was celebrating her home run. She was called out, and the Silverwolves maintained their three-run lead.

The game's momentum, however, went to the Miners.

"We told the girls, 'We can hit the ball. Look how hard she hit it and we can hit it just like that,'" said Bingham assistant coach Natalie Marquez, who ran the team in coach Mikki Jackson's absence. "I think she opened it up for us."

The next time the Miners got the chance to hit in the fourth inning, their confidence was up, and their bats broke out of their game-and-a-half slump. Katie Groves hit a ground-rule double, and Kylie Thomas hit a two-run double to get Bingham on the scoreboard. Sophomore Tori Almond, also the game's winning pitcher, then crushed a two-run home run to give the Miners a 4-3 lead.

It was Almond's first home run of the season. It would have been Herrick's first out-of-the-park home run of the season as well, if it had counted.

Herrick's hit woke up Bingham's offense. The Miners couldn't generate any offense in their stunning 1-0 loss against West Jordan on Tuesday. That was a frustrating game for Bingham, as Jackson was ejected from the contest for arguing with the umpire and had to miss Thursday's game because of it.

All is now well with the Miners, as they improved to 6-1 in Region 3 and regained sole possession of first place in the league. Riverton dropped to 6-2.

Riverton had control of Thursday's game in the early innings. The Silverwolves loaded the bases with no outs in the first, and Symbree Minniear and Annie Thomas each drove in runs with fielders-choice RBIs. Thomas added another RBI in the third on a bloop single to right field.

"They had the momentum," Almond said. "They were hitting the ball, so we just had to answer back."

Almond's pitching also helped turn the game's momentum in Bingham's favor. She scattered five hits, and threw six strikeouts. She allowed two batters to reach base in the seventh, but was helped out of the jam by a game-ending double play turned by shortstop Shaynie Phillips.

"We learned from our mistakes and we came out and proved to Riverton we're still here and we're still in it," Marquez said.

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