Prep softball: Box Elder secures 20th region title in fervent finish at West Field
Bees star Blackmer 2 Ks shy of matching her season high
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- Box Elder’s Lucy Griffin, left, and Lucy Braegger, right, celebrate a region-title clinching win during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- West Field’s Alena Lynch fires off a pitch during a region softball contest with Box Elder at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder’s Olivia Daniels bunts into a fair ball during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder’s Olivia Daniels celebrates arriving at second base during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder’s Lucy Braegger pictured during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder’s Kennadie Blackmer delivers a pitch during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- West Field’s Hailee Ellsworth swings above a pitch during a region softball contest with Box Elder at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder’s Maclee Willard connects with a pitch during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- West Field’s Brinklee Hadley tags out Box Elder’s Finley Bailey, who stole home plate, during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder’s Kailee Hall celebrates reaching second base during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- West Field’s Brinklee Hadley smiles winks at the home dugout after striking out a Box Elder batter during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder’s Lucy Griffin celebrates with her first-base coach during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder’s Kennadie Blackmer pictured during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder celebrates a region-title clinching win over West Field during a region softball contest at West Field High School on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Taylor.
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- Box Elder and West Field pass exchange high-fives after a region softball contest on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at West Field High School in Taylor.
TAYLOR — The international tie-breaker rule, in which an automatic baserunner is placed at second base starting in extra innings, has existed in Utah high school softball for years. It adds a layer of strategy that baseball just doesn’t have, and elicits more runs as a result.
Who scores first, however, is an essential part of the scenario. With the Region 5 title on the line Tuesday at West Field, Box Elder coach Brian Merrill wasn’t sure what he’d do if his team didn’t score first.
“When you’re the visiting team, you’ve gotta have it,” Merrill said. “If you don’t, it leaves the home team with a huge advantage.”
With the game tied at 5-all to begin the eighth, Box Elder junior Izibel Mason doubled on a line drive into left field for the window that freshman Maycie Moss and junior Kailee Hall needed to add two runs to the board — and lay the groundwork for a Quincey Lish RBI single.
“I was just looking for a base hit, kind of keeping the nerves calm,” said Mason, who rallied back from preseason knee troubles for two RBIs on two hits Tuesday. “Blank mind; I just had confidence in myself and I got it done.”
Box Elder notched its 20th all-time softball region title over with an 8-5 win over West Field in a de facto region championship that saw the Bees lead three different times. It’s the third region title of Merrill’s seven-year career as the Bees skipper, though he says he isn’t worried about those numbers.
“I don’t know — it’s one, we got one today,” Merrill said with a smile. “We just want to make sure every year is the same accomplishment, the same goal. We want to win it and make sure everybody knows where Box Elder is.”
Mason and fellow junior Lucy Griffin led the Bees (23-3, 11-1 Region 5) at the plate with two hits apiece for four combined RBIs. West Field (17-6, 10-2) managed five runs on three Box Elder errors.
Bees senior standout Kennadie Blackmer struck out 13 and allowed four hits, two walks and a single earned run in six innings. Fellow senior Lucy Braegger stepped up for the final two frames and kept West Field to no hits.
The Longhorns tied the game twice: first in the fourth inning on an error by Box Elder second baseman Katelyn Oki, and again on a Quinn Garrett RBI single to cap a three-run rally in the sixth.
West Field tapped freshman Alena Lynch to relieve Brinklee Hadley (5.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 K, 1 BB) atop the sixth inning. Lynch struck out Oki in preserving a tied 5-5 opportunity in the bottom of the seventh, but the Longhorns went 1-2-3 in both sides at the plate.
“I told (Lynch) she just needed to have fun and not worry about what was gonna happen,” West Field coach Mandy Koford said.
Lynch, a newcomer to the Koford system, has worked 18 2/3 innings of action as a freshman, and stepped in to relieve the veteran Hadley in a game not only bestowing a region title but potential playoff implications when it comes to filling out the 5A bracket.
“What I love about Alena is she hasn’t had to come in a ton, so for her to have that poise and that confidence to just come in and be her, that shows so much,” Koford added. “To be like, ‘Alright, I’m ready and let’s face the No. 2 team in the state and see what we can do.’ I’m so proud of how she handled that.”
Garrett (1 for 1), shortstop Brylee Leatherwood (2 for 4), and first baseman Kam Bell came up with all three RBIs for West Field, which ended the day with just four hits against Box Elder’s game-high 16.
The 5A softball state playoff bracket will drop Thursday. Box Elder and West Field can both expect regional byes in the first week of postseason play. Seedings go live at 10 a.m. Thursday on uhsaa.org.
Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
High School Sports
Prep softball: Box Elder secures 20th region title in fervent finish at West Field
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