The Bountiful High softball team, who begins the year among the top 5A teams again this season, went 4-2 during the first week of play. Viewmont was 2-3 at its first tournament while Woods Cross will start play this week after weather led to a cancellation of its first scheduled game against East.

Bountiful

Five seniors return for the Bountiful High team that finished second to Spanish Fork in last year’s 5A state championship. Senior pitcher/third baseman Malissa Turpin, catcher Athena Tongaonevai, first baseman Jayci Alvey, outfielder Frankie Galeana and centerfielder Mylie Burns will be among the leaders of the Redhawks team this season who remains in the top five in the preseason polls. Junior pitcher Ella Miller will be the team’s main ace on the mound while juniors Claire Yates and Isabeau Hoff will anchor the middle infield for the squad.

“We have good pitching, good hitting and solid defense back,” said head coach Butch Latey, who is in his 20th year at Bountiful and 39th season overall. “They’re all good athletes so it will really depend on our hitting as to how far we go.”

Latey also noted the addition of two newcomers that will help the team on the field this year. Freshman Aspyn Danner, who grew up playing baseball, along with fellow freshman Mia Loya are also ones to watch, according to Latey. “Aspyn may be starting in right field before the season’s over,” Latey said. “And Mia is fast and a great athlete.”

Also on the BHS squad this season are sophomore McKinley Duryea, Aimee Moore, Kamryn Rasmussen, Alivia Trump and Brenna Wentworth; and freshmen Reagan Duryea, Serafina Hoff, Alexa James and Ainslee Jensen.

Bountiful began the year with a 9-7 loss to Davis March 6. The Redhawks committed 15 errors in the field in the loss. Hoff recorded two RBIs while Miller had six strikeouts on the mound. 

At the March Warm-Up Elite Tournament in St. George March 8-9, Bountiful finished in a three-way tie for first after beating Copper Hills 11-0, Brighton 16-0, Cedar Valley 8-1 and Page (Ariz.) 11-1 with one loss to Hurricane 5-4. Galeana led the team with a .571 batting average for the tournament while Alvey, Huff, Yeates, Tongaonevai and Miller also had hot bats. Yeates drove in nine RBIs with Alvey leading the squad in runs with 11. “Melissa and Ella also threw outstanding games,” said Latey.

The Darts will also face Region 5 opponents Viewmont, Northridge, Box Elder, Woods Cross, Roy, Clearfield and Bonneville in home-and-away games beginning March 14. Other non-region contests against Cyprus, Syracuse, West Jordan, Grantsville and at the Bengal Bash round out the regular season.

Viewmont

Second-year coaches Bree Lopez and Kayla Lowry spent time in the offseason remodeling the Vikings clubhouse “to make it a warm and welcoming environment for the girls to remember.” The players have been working on strength and stamina as they aim to improve on a 3-10 season where they missed the 5A playoffs.

“We did a lot of weightlifting, agility training and diet education on how to have a strong healthy body,” said Lowry. “This year our goals are to challenge ourselves to get better, learn something new every day, be great teammates and push ourselves to give it 110 percent.”

The key returners this season for Viewmont are seniors Kennedy Embrey and Molly Roberts and sophomores Ricki Smith and Marlee Moser. New to the program are senior Emma Morrison, sophomores Grace Leavitt and Paisley Shelley, and freshmen Camille Taylor and Betty Cluff.

Also on the VHS squad this year are senior Haley Rodabough; juniors Karli Dickerson, Emi Jones and Kaitlyn Riley; and sophomore Peyton Burningham.

To begin the season, the Vikings played at the Flyer Fire Up tournament March 8-9, defeating Millard 21-7 and Beaver 19-4 while losing to Dixie 6-4, Syracuse 11-4 and Enterprise 9-4. Viewmont is also scheduled to face Morgan as well as Region 5 opponents Bountiful, Bonneville, Northridge, Box Elder, Woods Cross, Roy and Clearfield in home-and-away games this season.

Woods Cross

Head coach Casey Plowman, who is in her sixth year at Woods Cross, has been focusing on strength and fundamentals in trying to help a program that finished last in Region 5 a year ago and failed to make the 5A state tournament.

“We’ve been getting our girls stronger in the weight room, focusing on things that will help with injury prevention,” said Plowman. “We are also trying to keep improving our skills and knowledge of the game. We are looking forward to building and developing.”

The Wildcats will be led this year by senior Natalie Wall and sophomore Audrey Ayala with newcomer Tina Tuakiapimahu, a sophomore, expected to be a key contributor as well.

Also on the WXHS team this season are sophomores Breck Harris, Bella Mortensen, Ashlynn Nelson, Bahiyyih Hemos, Rylee Feller, Savannah Juggert, Amelia McChesney and Kaylee Moen; and freshmen Kara Dodge, Makala Fusselman and Elli Temple.

Woods Cross begins the season against Olympus March 13 before facing Olympus, Brighton, Highland, Alta and Skyline in non-region games. Region 5 home-and-away matchups start March 21 with Clearfield, Bountiful, Viewmont, Northridge, Box Elder, Bonneville and Roy.