High school softball: Spanish Fork earns share of Region 8 crown

SPANISH FORK — It took them nine innings, but eventually the unheralded Spanish Fork Dons took care of the No. 2 Uintah Utes 6-5 and gave themselves at least a share of the tough Region 8 title.

The Dons were supposed to be in an off year with tons of youth and inexperience in their lineup, but that off year and a tough preseason led to an 8-1 record with one game remaining in the Region 8 regular season. The Dons are currently alone atop the standings of the league in which 4A's No. 2 Utes and No. 5 Springville Red Devils have been earning accolades all season long.

Spanish Fork has one test remaining against Springville today in the Red Devils' lair, and if they win they're the undisputed region champs. If Springville's hot lineup takes the victory, the two teams will share the region title as they will have split the season series.

"We're a better team than people thought. We're young, but these kids have got a lot of fight and talent. Inexperience does bite us sometimes," said Spanish Fork coach Don Andrews.

And the inexperience almost bit the Dons in the third and eighth innings as they amassed five errors, giving up key runs in the process. Two errors came in the third in which the Utes snapped up a 4-0 lead off a couple of errors, a walk, a single and a home run to BYU-bound Maddy Robb.

"We made so many mistakes. We showed our youth, and I got a little excited," said Andrews of the errors.

Spanish Fork got three runs back in the bottom of the fourth on a pair of singles and a 3-run home run over the right field fence by Lyndsey Healey, who just returned from an almost seasonlong injury with hits so solid the Utes chose to walk her in the bottom of the eighth rather than face that bat again.

"Lyndsey is the benchmark for who loves the game," said Andrews, who noted that though with her broken hand, she was unable to even take batting practice until last week, had a couple of practices, and in the two games since has knocked out a pair of home runs.

The Dons were informed just a couple of hours prior to game time that their original starting catcher would be able to catch for them for the first time since injuring her hand early in the preseason. Healey's return is fortuitous for a team heading into the playoffs as, though they played well with a freshman behind the plate, Healey is in a league of her own.

A double by Brooke Kramer, from the ninth spot in the Spanish Fork lineup, and an RBI single by leadoff hitter Kelli Hales tied things up and sent the two teams into extra innings.