Miners Strike Softball Gold

Taking on a team with no losses in the championship game is usually a tough task for anyone, winning both of those games… even tougher.

The Bingham Miners softball team accomplished this rare feat on Thursday with three impressive victories, one over Fremont (2 to 0 in the semifinals), and two over Roy High School (6 to 2 in game one, 2 to 1 in game two) after previously being beaten by the Royals in the earlier rounds.

Although making it all the way through the losers’ bracket to claim the crown can be a difficult task, the Miners relish the situation, this is Bingham’s third consecutive softball championship and third straight year through the losers’ bracket (in 2009 they defeated Viewmont twice and in 2008 they defeated Taylorsville twice to win it all).

The second and deciding game between Bingham and Roy on Thursday was a hard fought contest. Roy’s ace, Macauley Flint, injured her thumb in the earlier game and was unable to pitch, so Jamie Aiken delivered a strong performance as she filled in… the game, and the day however, belonged to the Miner’s Tori Almond.

Almond earned victories in all three games for the Miners on Thursday while also carrying a 20 inning scoreless streak that wasn’t snapped until the final inning of the final game. Despite Almond’s impressive performance, Bingham’s fans sat on the edge of their seats waiting for their offense to come through during the impressive pitching duel as Flint was up for the challenge.

Bingham’s Whitney Lewis finally got her team on the board with a fifth inning single that brought in Whitney Littledyke and then the Miners added one more in the sixth as they hung on to overcome long odds for their third straight year.

Three 5A titles in three straight years, the Bingham Miners are truly a team that defies the odds.