Never count a champion out. Even though Tooele softball found themselves in unfamiliar territory in the consolation bracket after a loss to Olympus, the Buffs just refuse to lose. And that attitude is keeping their dreams of back-to-back 4A state championships alive.

Don’t try talking to Tooele head coach Steve Snow about looking ahead to games that might happen, because he has his team focused on the task at hand. Tooele softball right now is taking everything one game, one inning and one pitch at a time and it is working wonders.

After dispatching Region 7 opponents Payson and Springville on Tuesday, Tooele saved their most dramatic games for Wednesday evening. In probably the best game in the 4A state tournament, Tooele and Woods Cross battled it out in a see-saw affair that eventually saw the Buffs pull out a 6-4 win in 11 innings to go on and play Murray immediately following.

Tooele fell behind 3-0 early against the Spartans, but somehow found some late-inning magic. After scoring one run in the sixth, Tooele carried that momentum into the seventh.

The Buffaloes eventually tied the game in the seventh 3-3 and that is when Whitnie Griffith stepped up to the plate. Griffith hit a chopping grounder to the left side of the infield that took just long enough for her to beat out the throw with a face-first slide to win the game for the Buffaloes and send them into the final three teams in 4A.

“Coach Snow told me to take three deep breaths before stepping up to the plate,” Griffith said, right after knocking in the game-winning RBI. “I knew I had to slide to get in safely at first. We just needed to get this done for Mattie (Snow) because she worked so hard pitching.”

Coach Snow has seen great changes in his team since the second-round loss to Olympus. “Since the loss, we have had the motto to refuse to lose,” Snow said. “Just a tremendous effort on their part tonight.”

Tooele 7 — Payson 0

Tooele didn’t waste any time pouncing all over a familiar foe in the Payson Lions. Scoring five runs in the opening two innings was more than enough run support for Snow in the circle as the Buffaloes won 7-0 to eliminate Payson.

Marissa Mendenhall and Snow each had a pair of singles in the game and each player belted in a run. Whitnie Griffith only had one hit but that one hit was a towering home run in the fifth. Snow only allowed two Payson hits while striking out seven.

After shutting down Payson in the first inning, Snow quickly went to work with the bat by belting a single, which was followed by a walk by Hadli Sorenson to get runners on for Tooele.

With runners at second and third, pinch runner Kenzie Meyers got caught between third and home but an errant throw from Payson allowed Tooele to score two quick runs in the bottom of the first.

In the second, Allie Alverson belted a long triple down the right field line to score Jordon McMain for a 3-0 lead. Both Snow and Mendenhall belted RBI singles in the second to bring the tally to 5-0 after two innings.

Even though she threw a shutout, Snow still was challenged by a pesky Lion lineup. In the fourth Payson had their best chance to cut into the Buffalo lead with a leadoff triple by Jessica Uresti. Even with the scoring threat on third, Snow calmly struck out the next batter then forced a fly ball and grounder to close out the inning. The inability to score a run in the fourth deflated the Lions but Tooele still had ideas for more runs.

Careless throws by Payson turned a one-out single by Mendenhall into a two-base error that found Mendenhall at third base. With a runner at third and only one out, all Griffith had to do was hit a pop fly to the outfield for a run. She went the extra mile by powering a home run over the fence in left-center field for the 7-0 Buffalo lead.

Snow shut the door on the Lions by not allowing a base runner for the remaining two innings to help Tooele move on to the next round.

Tooele 6 — Springville 0

Tooele looked to again knock off a familiar Region 7 foe in Springville to continue their run in the playoffs. It took a little bit to get going, but a four-run third inning did the trick for Tooele in helping eliminate the Red Devils from the tournament.

Mendenhall had the best game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a single and double and accounted for two of Tooele’s six runs. Snow took care of business from the rubber, only allowing three hits while striking out eight.

For the first two innings, the game seemed to be heading toward a pitchers’ duel. Springville had a chance to score in the second after a Tooele error and a hit batter, but the Buffaloes got out of the jam.

The pitchers duel changed dramatically in the third inning. While Snow was still rolling, the Tooele offense got the bats going. An Alverson bunt started the scoring, thanks to a fielding miscue by the Devils. On the Alverson bunt, the throw ended up in the outfield, that allowed Aly Jensen to score the first run of the game.

Sorenson kept the scoring going for Tooele with a hard-hit single through the left side of the infield to score Alverson from third for the 2-0 lead.

Covering the bunt again seemed to be a problem for Springville as Griffith laid down a perfect bunt that wasn’t fielded cleanly, allowing Sorenson to score from second. Again Griffith was indirectly associated with another run when she was caught in a run down between second and first but took enough time getting out to score Mendenhall from third for the 4-0 lead after three.

Springville could only advance a runner to second twice against Snow in the fourth and fifth innings. Both times the rally was quickly squashed by the Tooele pitching and defense.

Looking for more insurance runs in the sixth, Mendenhall led off the inning with a double and was later brought around to score when Whitney Holt laid down a bunt in a suicide squeeze situation. Mendenhall beat out the throw at home for the 5-0 lead.

With Holt on second, Ashleigh Walker sprayed a single to right for Tooele’s final run of the game, making the score 6-0. Springville did get a runner on base by way of an error but could not get that runner past first base as Tooele eliminated their second straight Region 7 opponent.

Tooele 6 — Woods Cross 4

In a game that can only be described as wild, Tooele and Woods Cross went to battle Wednesday evening. In a game where Tooele would draw first blood then the Wildcats would counter, this game had it all.

Eventually the Buffaloes outlasted Woods Cross by putting up two runs in the top of the 11th to eliminate the Wildcats 6-4, only a couple innings after Woods Cross head coach Freddie Fernandes got ejected for arguing a call.

Jordon McMain had a big game at the plate by earning a couple of singles and scoring one of Tooele’s six runs. Snow truly had a gutsy performance by pitching all 11 innings and striking out 17 batters along the way.

Throughout the first five innings it appeared to be heading to a pitchers’ duel between Snow and Woods Cross’s Kelsey Plowman. Tooele had their best chance to score in the fifth when McMain singled to lead off the inning then worked her way over to second with a stolen base. McMain did get to third base but was unable to cross the plate in the fifth.

Woods Cross put a scare into Tooele in the third when Kelli Fox led off the inning with a single. On a Tooele wild throw to first on a bunt the Wildcats would of scored easily but McMain in right field was on her toes in backing up the errant throw to save a run in the third.

In the sixth, Tooele finally got on the board. Snow led off the inning with a single and Sorenson reached on an error to get runners on for Tooele. From there Sorenson darted for second and pinch runner Kenzie Meyers bolted for home on the play for a 1-0 Tooele lead.

Woods Cross countered right back in the bottom half. A costly Tooele error allowed Morgan Brown on base and that was all Xojian Harry needed as she roped a triple to the fence in right-center to tie the game 1-1.

With neither team scoring in the seventh, this game would be decided by the International Tiebreaker. Tooele took advantage of a pair of Woods Cross throwing miscues in the eighth to take the lead. In fact, two wild throws to first in the infield allowed Meyers, Mendenhall and Griffith to score for a spacious 4-2 lead heading into the bottom half.

Only Woods Cross didn’t give up while staring down a three-run deficit. Brown grounded to the right side of the infield for the first Wildcat run. Tooele returned the favor of a infield throwing error to make the score 4-3 for Tooele.

Trailing by a run, Woods Cross coaches made the game a lot more interesting. After the field umpire called a check-swing strike, Wildcat coach Fernandes went crazy and quickly got ejected, along with one of his assistants. However, in the midst of all the commotion, Woods Cross caught Tooele sleeping on the next pitch as Harry stole home outright to tie the game 4-4.

It took until the 11th inning and another costly Wildcat throwing error that allowed Whitney Holt to score from second. The Buffs added another as Aly Jensen laid down a perfect suicide squeeze to score McMain from third for the 6-4 score.

Just like in the previous 10 innings, Snow took to the rubber and shut down Woods Cross to move on in the tournament.

Tooele 4 — Murray 3

No one would blame Tooele for being physically and mentally tired after just playing an 11 inning game against Woods Cross. The Buffaloes however, were not looking for excuses, only for a way to beat the Spartans of Murray Wednesday night.

Murray jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead but Tooele again just refused to lose. Scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh was just another chapter in their journey in the state tournament and eliminated the Spartans 4-3 on a infield single by Griffith to win the game. Ironically, 4-3 was the score of last year’s title tilt between the two teams.

Griffith, Snow and Allie Alverson each had RBI singles in the game while Snow got the job done in the circle. Snow did a good job to keep the game within striking distance with 13 strikeouts.

Murray took advantage of a Tooele throwing error in the second inning when the throw pulled the first baseman while Sara Park scored from second on the play, sliding just under the tag for the first run.

The scoring continued in the third for the Spartans. With the bases loaded Mallory Hyland roped a single down the right field line that brought in Lyndi Miller and Erin Thompson for the 3-0 Spartan lead.

Tooele had their chances to score in the first few innings but the closest was a powerful connection off the bat of Griffith, which was ticketed over the fence but caught just before the ball sailed over to keep the lead at 3-0.

Snow pitched strong and did a good job of bending slightly but not breaking at all. That gutsy pitching performance proved important for Tooele rally.

A pair of Murray errors in the infield in the sixth helped Tooele get within two, but it also gave them the confidence to score more in the seventh.

The magical seventh started with a walk by Jensen that was followed with a infield single by Alverson on a bunt. After Alverson made it to first, a throwing error to third to get Jensen was wild, allowing Jensen to score.

Snow followed with an RBI single to right to tie the game, but Tooele was looking for the win. After pinch runner Meyers made it to third, Griffith calmly chopped a grounder to short stop that was just enough for her speed and her face-first slide to beat out the throw at first, scoring the winning run in an incredible come from behind 4-3 victory.

“I am just really proud of our team,” coach Snow said. “Our seniors really stepped up. If the seniors didn’t do what they did in the clutch then we wouldn’t be advancing in the tournament.”

Tooele plays Bonneville today at 2:45 p.m. to keep their 4A state title hopes alive. If they win, they’ll move on to play Roy at 5 p.m. In order to be two-time 4A state champs, they’ll need to beat Roy twice.

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com