Bear River players celebrate their win over Tooele for the 4A championship in Softball in Spanish Fork on Saturday, May 22, 2021. Bear River won both games. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
SPANISH FORK, Utah — If you don’t know Olivia Taylor’s name, you’re about to get an education on great moments in Utah high school softball.
KSL Sports shared video of Taylor, a center fielder for Bear River, rolling backward over the outfield fence to catch what looked like it might be a home run. Instead, the Bear River Bears stunned the Tooele Buffaloes to win the 4A Utah State Softball Championship game.
Taylor’s amazing catch Saturday afternoon in the Utah softball championship game helped lead Bear River to victory in the three-game series. They lost the first game to Tooele, 5-0, before winning both Saturday games, 4-2 and 14-6.
By Monday morning, video of the catch made its way to national television networks. From USA Today to CBS to Fox and beyond, the video received likes all over the country. Major League Baseball even shared it, as did ESPN’s SportsCenter.