Spanish Springs softball wins crown

With their tickets already punched for next week's NIAA 4A State Tournament, the McQueen and Spanish Springs softball teams rested their aces in Saturday's finals at Carson High.

The end result was a come-from-behind 11-6 win for the Cougars to win the Nothern 4A title. Both Spanish Springs and the Lancers advanced to next week's state event. McQueen advanced with an 8-0 win over Reed in Saturday's semifinals.

While she didn't pitch, Cougar ace Mallory Darby came through with the clutch pinch-hit, a two-run single that broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning. It came during a 7-run rally that gave Spanish Springs an 11-5 lead, completing a comeback from a 5-2 deficit. McQueen ace Katie Eshelman also didn't pitch.

McQueen led 5-2 when Devin Steelman hit a two-run home run in the the fifth to make it 5-4. Heather Bochenski came in for McQueen, but the Cougars were able to rally against her in the sixth. Bochenski hit a home run in the sixth to finish the scoring.

Eshelman and Bochenski helped lead McQueen as Eshelman doubled and scored two runs and Bochenski also doubled and had three RBI.

For Spanish Springs, Steelman had three hits, three runs, two RBI and a double, Abbay Fox had three hits, a run and an RBI, Jennifer Martensen doubled with a run and two RBI, Amanda Collier had two hits, including a home run, Courtney Darby had two hits and a run and Alexandria Arciniega had two hits, an RBI and two runs. Annalee Rubio pitched a complete game for the win.