Blackfoot led to first state trophy by star Brianna Reynolds, playing on 1 leg

BLACKFOOT — The Blackfoot Broncos reached new heights this year, earning the school’s first-ever softball state trophy — a second-place finish in the 5A tournament. And they were led to those new heights by a senior two-way star who played all year on one leg.

Without knowing the full scope of her injuries, Brianna Reynolds played the entire season with a torn ACL, torn LCL and torn meniscus in her left leg. Despite the injuries, she was among the Broncos’ leaders in nearly every category. And when she finally did learn the extent of her injuries, Brianna stayed on the field — pitching 27 innings during the state tournament and earning the decision in three of the team’s four wins at the tournament.

Brianna received the results of an MRI, revealing the seriousness of the injuries she’d played through all season, the Monday before the state tournament — which was May 14-16. At first, she thought it was a mistake. She believed the hospital had sent her the results from when she was 12 and hurt her knee initially.

“I was just crying. I was like, ‘Is this for real?’,” she recalled. “But I was like, ‘We’ve got one more tournament, we can’t stop now. … It is what is it. I’m gonna go play anyways.'”

Brianna was 12 when she tore her ACL, LCL and meniscus, and fractured the femur in her left leg during a basketball game. She underwent surgery and rehab, and returned to the sports she loves.

Then, in the fall of 2024, when she was a junior, Brianna was involved in a collision during volleyball tryouts. She felt pain in her knee but didn’t think much of it, believing it was a sprain — not bad enough to slow her down.

She played softball last season despite the nagging pain.

This year, while warming up for a game in the middle of the season, she fell down, and the pain in her knee intensified. Finally, she decided to have the knee checked out.

Brianna’s parents, Marshall and Shawna, received the MRI results first.

Marshall recalled receiving a call from his wife informing him of the results.

“We both, at the same time, said, ‘Don’t tell the coaches,'” he said.

They know their daughter. They knew she would want to continue playing through the injury.

Brianna decided not to let her coaches know about the injuries. She said she didn’t even want to give them the chance to think about holding her out — but insisted she would have taken the field with or without her coaches’ blessing.

Assistant coach Hadlie Henderson said that she had a feeling something was off with Brianna, but was not the least bit surprised when she learned that Brianna played through the injuries.

“If it were me in that situation — me and Bri have the same competitive drive. If she would have told us before, she probably would have still ended up playing,” Henderson said. “Even if she had told us before, there was no way she would have let us have a chance to sit her out.”

Brianna admitted that, heading to the state tournament, she was concerned she would not be able to give her team everything she was capable of giving.

“But I had a nine-hour drive to Post Falls to kinda be like, ‘OK, you’ve already done this, it’s nothing new. Don’t go out there and be scared,'” she said.

But she also realized that her team had grown over the course of the season, and that she could rely on the entire squad to perform well, regardless of her inability to give 100%.

Not only did Briana play, though, she played well.

As a pitcher, the lefty pitched 27 of her team’s 38 innings during the three-day state tournament, allowing 15 hits and 11 runs, five earned (1.30 ERA), while striking out 27 batters. She was credited with three wins and one loss.

As a heart-of-the-lineup bat, she added four hits in 16 at-bats, driving in nine runs and scoring two more.

And she was at her best when her team needed it most.

Against conference rival Bonneville, in an elimination game for the right to play on championship Saturday.

Brianna took over the junior Traylee Reid in a 3-3 tie in the second inning, and went the final 6 innings holding the Bees scoreless on one hit. The Broncos guaranteed themselves a trophy with a 5-3 win.

The win was extra-special, according to Brianna. First of all, Blackfoot was not expected to compete with Bonneville or Hillcrest in the 5A District 6 tournament. They beat both en route to a district title. The win also pushed Blackfoot into its first-ever championship Saturday appearance.

Blackfoot opened that first-ever championship Saturday appearance with a revenge victory over Vallivue — against whom they lost Friday morning in second-round action.

Brianna pitched a 3-inning complete game, allowing one hit and striking out four as the Broncos snatched an 18-0 run-rule victory.

After losing 13-12 to Vallivue Friday morning, Blackfoot needed to beat Twin Falls to stay alive.

The Broncos fell behind, 6-2, in the second. But Brianna was there to help guide her team back. Pitching in relief, she went the final 5-2/3 innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run as Blackfoot roared all the way back for a 9-7 win.

When Blackfoot finally suffered that season-ending loss in the championship game, 4-2 against Middleton, there was a brief moment of sadness. But the moment they saw the second-place trophy, Brianna said, the emotions perked up.

She chose to ride home from Post Falls with her team, instead of jumping in the car with her parents.

“We had to party,” she said.

The party, though, was short-lived. Thirty minutes into the nine-hour drive, the girls were asleep, finally coming down from the physical and emotional drain of playing six games in three days, both Brianna and Henderson recalled.

Now, Brianna is refocused.

She has undergone surgery and will be in a wheelchair for her high school graduation. After three months of rehab, she will head to Sapporo, Japan, to serve an 18-month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After her mission, the 4.0 student will attend BYU on an academic scholarship, according to her mother, Shawna. And though Shawna is hopeful that playing college softball remains an option, Brianna is just focused on school and becoming a radiologist.