High school softball: Springville blanks Spanish Fork in first game of 5A state championship
Springville might have played its best game of the season in a 6-0 victory over Spanish Fork Thursday evening at BYU in Game 1 of the 5A state softball championship series, and the Red Devils now need just one more victory in the best of three series to win their first ever softball state title.
The Dons are no stranger to the biggest stage but have been less accustomed to losing. Spanish Fork came to Provo boasting a 27-game win streak and the last three state titles, and though the win streak was broken Thursday, a fourth consecutive championship remains in play.
Springville, meanwhile, came into the series winner of its last eight contests, the Red Devils’ last defeat coming at the hands of the Dons. The Region 7 rivals squared off two times in the regular season, with both games ending in Spanish Fork victories.
“They handed it to us the last time that we played them,” Springville head coach Jill Thackeray said of Spanish Fork. “I think just our mentality the last couple of weeks has been so tough.”
The Red Devils showed their toughness from the get-go Thursday, using a double, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
They added to their tally in the third and sixth frames, pushing the right buttons and capitalizing on a pair of Dons’ errors — one in each inning.
“I just think that we were taking advantage of little things,” Thackeray said. “We were able to steal a couple bases on a bobbled ball or we were looking more aggressive on bases to where that put our batters who were up in good positions to drive in (runs).”
Springville all but sealed things in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs much the same way it had all game long. The Red Devils used two timely hits and another Spanish Fork error to double their advantage.
When Springville wasn’t adding to its lead, it was keeping Spanish Fork from cutting into it. The Dons’ zero runs marks the first time the team has been held scoreless since 2022.
“Ryann (Haveron) pitched the game of her life,” Thackeray said when asked about the shutout. “She kept them so off balance and she was hitting her spots and she was spinning the ball. … When Ryann is spinning that ball, she is tough to touch, and I think her defense had her back for the most part.”
Both Spanish Fork and Springville entered the contest with perfect tournament records, but only the Red Devils ended the day with that intact. Still, Springville knows it has its work cut out for itself moving forward.
“We’re not done yet. We have one more win to go,” Thackeray said. “We don’t want to let up knowing that (we) have the cushion. … We need to pick up where we left off today, carry it over into tomorrow.”
The schools will resume championship series play at BYU Friday starting at 11 a.m. If necessary, a third game will take place at 4:30 p.m.
