ST. GEORGE – By Cari Doutre – March 14, 2020
It wasn’t the start of the 2020 high school softball season Bear River High wanted to see. Taking their annual trip to sunny St. George for their first games of the season, the Bears anticipated at least three days of softball with multiple games scheduled, but they didn’t get that. Not even close.
What the Lady Bears did get was one extra-long game and a canceled tournament due to weather. The only time the Bears took to the softball field this week in competitive play was against Snow Canyon High on Thursday, March 12, in St. George.
A walk-off grand slam for Snow Canyon sealed the deal and the win for the Warriors 16-12. The game went into extra innings, nine to be exact, as both the Bears and the Warriors remained tied inning after inning. Story continues below...
The Bears still had a remarkable game at the plate in the first game of the season.
Senior Kati Gibbs hit a three-run homerun in the top of the third inning putting the Bears on the scoreboard and tying up the game 3-3. Gibbs went 5-for-5 at the plate with four RBIs and a double.
McCall Maxfield also had a homerun for the Lady Bears in the top of the sixth inning giving Bear River a temporary 6-5 lead in the game.
Junior Olivia Taylor went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and two RBIs and Cami Gibbs brought in two RBIs.
Senior Bailey Theurer pitched all nine innings. Theurer struck out 10 and gave up 16 hits to Snow Canyon. The Bears still outhit the Warriors with 17 but had three errors on the field.
The Bear River softball team will now take two weeks off as instructed by the Utah High School Activities Association. This suspension is for all after school activities and sports as a pre-caution to the COVID-19 virus.