St. George • Before Bear River won its fourth straight Class 3A softball championship Saturday, beating Canyon View 8-7, Jordan Theurer had spent a good long time at third base.

In the ninth inning, Bear River trailed Canyon View 7-6. A Bears loss would have meant a second game in the double-elimination tournament.

On base thanks only to the international tiebreaker — which, in extra innings, calls for a runner on second base to begin an inning — Theurer went to third on a sacrifice bunt.

From there, she watched slugger Kelli Smart, who hit a three-run homer earlier in the game, ground out. Then, freshman third baseman Erin Fox, who later said she wanted to vomit each time she stepped into the batter's box, fouled off six pitches before drawing a game-saving walk with two outs.

Fox stole second at the direction of coach Calvin Bingham.

Aleisha Taylor, a junior right fielder, battled Canyon View pitcher Alyssa Potter to a 2-2 count. On the next pitch, Taylor swung hard.

Theurer finally got to leave third base. She didn't watch the ball loft over Canyon View shortstop Ginessa Delange. She just sprinted.

"We win," she thought.

Then, Theurer, the sophomore pitcher who carried the Bears throughout the season, turned and watched Fox barrel toward home.

"We won," she thought, as Fox slid, careful to drag her entire hand across home plate.

Taylor sprinted back toward the middle of the field. Theurer and Fox were mobbed by their teammates.

"We did it," Theurer thought as Bear River celebrated.

"People didn't think we could with all the girls we lost," Theurer later said.

Bear River's softball dominance has now carried into a new era, one led by underclassmen such as Theurer and Fox, who came up watching earlier stars lead the Bears to three straight titles. This year's group, though, has the distinction of winning a fourth, something that had only been done by one other team in state history — Bingham from 1991 to 1994.

Canyon View lost to the Bears for the second time in two days, having advanced to the championship with a Saturday morning victory over Union in the consolation bracket.

Bear River seemed to chase the Falcons for most of the game. Canyon View led 5-3 in the fifth inning, and the Falcons' 7-6 lead in the ninth appeared safe with Theurer apparently stuck.

Then, however, Taylor swung hard, Theurer ran, Fox slid, Bear River celebrated. Four in a row.

boram@sltrib.comTwitter: @orambfacebook.com/tribpreps —

Highlights

R Bear River finishes its season on a 12-game winning streak, last losing on April 29 to Juan Diego.

• Jordan Theurer earns the win for the Bears and also scores three runs. Kelli Smart hits a three-run homer and finishes with four RBIs.

• Canyon View loses despite finishing with two more hits than Bear River and committing three fewer errors.