The No. 5 Longhorns, on five hits, couldn’t answer Emmery Wilson’s first-inning solo homer in a 1-0 loss to No. 1 Salem Hills on Wednesday afternoon at Valley Regional Park. Earlier in the day, West Field rode three hits, including a homer by Ellie Koford, to a 5-3 win over No. 8 Springville to get another shot at the Skyhawks.

Mandy Koford, in her second season as head coach, lifted West Field even higher in Year 2 with a 22-8 finish as the Region 5 runner-up behind Box Elder. After Tuesday’s loss to Salem Hills, she tested her team’s flexibility and how they could attack each batter differently entering Wednesday.

“We went home yesterday after they dealt us some pretty big blows; we had to change our mindsets and had to figure out how we wanted to attack them today,” Mandy Koford said.

Salem Hills, which averages 10.5 hits per game this season, netted just six Wednesday.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

“It was just kind of fun to think, ‘OK, what we did yesterday didn’t really work, let’s try something else,'” Mandy Koford said. “We were able to keep them off-balance, and I’m really proud of my team for coming back … we hung with them every second of that game.”

Brinklee Hadley recorded 18 outs in the circle, including seven strikeouts and a single walk through six frames. West Field, though, couldn’t produce the tying run down the stretch against Jocile Norman and Makaibee Tripp.

Brylee Leatherwood doubled in the top of the fourth, and Rylee Andreasen kicked a runner into scoring position again in the fifth, but nobody could get one past the Salem Hills defense from there. Alena Lynch produced a one-out single in the seventh, but two pop-outs by Claire Nessen and Andreasen sealed their fate.

In two seasons as a program, West Field has reached a state semifinal game in consecutive years since its breakout season in 4A with Koford at the helm. Seniors Ayzlee Sessions, Brylee Leathwerwood, Rylee Andreasen, Hailee Ellsworth and Kam Bell will all move on.

“They’ve taken a lot of accountability for the underclassmen,” Koford said. “They’ve tried to show them the ropes of how to be a great team and a great leader, and I just hope that the younger girls have paid attention.”

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner