High school softball: Brailsford's walk-off blast caps Red Devils' huge comeback

SPRINGVILLE — It's not often a team can come back from six runs down in the bottom of the fifth to defeat one of the best pitching teams in the state. But that's exactly what the Springville Red Devils did to Bingham in a softball game with plenty of fireworks Thursday.

And it all came down to a bases loaded, one-out, walk-off grand slam by Springville's Nikki Brailsford, one of the dangerous sluggers in the scary hitting lineup that the Red Devils put on the field in their 9-7 victory.

Springville scored a run in the bottom of the fifth and four more in the sixth before Bingham added a run in the top of the seventh, giving their top-notch pitching staff an extra cushion and a two-run lead.

It wouldn't be enough, though, when Brailsford got ahold of the pitch. After the first batter struck out, the Red Devils brought the top of the lineup to the plate, and the hitters showed why they're feared around the state. Brooke Budge nailed a single off the pitcher and into the infield. Pitcher Caitlyn Erickson singled to left-center and reached second on a throw home that held the runner at third.

Then Brittany McCray, who had smacked a home run 30 feet past the fence in the sixth inning and brought home two runs, took on the Bingham backup pitcher, Keagan Hanny. Though McCray wasn't swinging away, she did her job and loaded the bases with a walk, setting the table for Brailsford's heroics.

"It felt good," said Brailsford after hitting the home run. Then she admitted, "At first I felt like I'd popped it up, then I saw it going, and I started running."

By the time she hit second base, she'd lost her legs, but luckily she didn't need them anymore as the walk-off blast cleared the fence.

"That was a fun game. These are the games that you remember, when you come back from a 6-0 deficit. We just started stringing hits together," Brailsford added, still out of breath with excitement.

Bingham picked up single runs in each of the second and third innings, but it was the fifth inning that gave them the big lead.

It all started with a walk to Tori Almond, an error on the Red Devils, and a wild pitch that brought in the first run. Then Lauren Johanson doubled to the center field fence to bring in the second run of the inning. Whitney Lewis singled to get on base, and sophomore Whitney Littledike knocked one over the left center fence to bring in another two, adding up to four runs in the inning and a 6-0 lead.