1 / 5

Box Elder's Kailee Hall connects during the 5A softball state finals with Salem Hills on Friday, May 22, 2026, at Gail Miller Field at BYU in Provo.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

2 / 5

Box Elder's Kailee Hall celebrates with her teammates at home plate during the 5A softball state finals with Salem Hills on Friday, May 22, 2026, at Gail Miller Field at BYU in Provo.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

3 / 5

Box Elder's Kennadie Blackmer takes the mound during the 5A softball state finals with Salem Hills on Friday, May 22, 2026, at Gail Miller Field at BYU in Provo.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

4 / 5

Salem Hills' Audree Stokes reacts after striking out, as Box Elder's Maclee Willard, back, returns the ball to the mound during the 5A softball state finals with Salem Hills on Friday, May 22, 2026, at Gail Miller Field at BYU in Provo.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

5 / 5

Box Elder's Katelyn Oki, left, readjusts her foot on the bag as Salem Hills' Samaya Haveron, right, slides into second base during the 5A softball state finals with Salem Hills on Friday, May 22, 2026, at Gail Miller Field at BYU in Provo.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

❮ ❯

PROVO — Kailee Hall’s third-inning solo home run served as the benchmark for Box Elder’s 2-1, Game-3-forcing victory over No. 1 Salem Hills in the 5A softball state championship series Friday at BYU.

The No. 4 Bees, who dropped Thursday’s opener 9-2 at Gail Miller Field, held to that slam down the stretch of Friday’s Game 2 victory and held the line with a Skyhawks club averaging 10.8 runs per outing in their postseason run as the tourney frontrunner.

Even after two no-out walks in the bottom of the seventh, Bees ace pitcher Kennadie Blackmer clung to that lead as if her life depended on it.

Blackmer retrieved Jocile Norman’s bunt for the first out, mowed down Shay Loveridge on strikes, and Olivia Daniels tracked down Audree Stokes’ pop-up in the sun. That ensured Box Elder’s first finals appearances in eight years would come down to Game 3, and handed Salem Hills only its second loss of the season.

Lucy Griffin’s two-out RBI double delivered the game’s first run in the top of the first for Box Elder (29-5). Emmery Wilson answered for Salem Hills (31-2) in the next side with the same, an RBI double, to even the scoreboard at 1-all.

Hall’s homer in the third delivered the decisive run, but it was another powerhouse outing by Blackmer in the circle that extended Friday to a 4:30 p.m. tiebreaker. Only a junior, Blackmer allowed the one run on two hits, striking out 10 and walking five.

Norman allowed two runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and zero walks for Salem Hills.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.