Weston Brierley, sports writer, @WestonGB
The UVU Women’s Softball teams season came to a close on May 5, and what a season it has been. Under interim head coach Rachel Hartgrove the lady Wolverines finished the year with an impressive conference record of 14-10, which was good enough for third overall in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, and an overall record of 35-20. Nothing but good can be said about the effort this team has given their coach throughout the year, and interim coach Hartgrove can pat herself on the back for guiding them through it.
The stat that seems to stand out the most is total hits for the year, the Wolverines outhitting their opponents 404-312. Morgan Summers, a freshman from Tremonton, Utah, contributing 42 of these hits. Morgan is a fine example of the future potential the current roster is loaded with. With only five seniors on this roster this season UVU will have plenty of returning young, talented players. The opportunity to bring in an additional number of impact players through recruiting suggests that the UVU will only get better.
Winning on the road must be a priority next year if UVU hopes to compete for a conference championship, and reach the postseason. Although they still notched a decent 11-10 away record, improving their play on the road will be vital for the Wolverines to play at a high level in the Western Athletic Conference. The future is bright though for the lady Wolverines, as well as all of UVU athletics as they move into the WAC next year. For the first time ever athletics will be able to qualify for a postseason berth in the NCAA championships.
With a locker room full of a variety of talent Coach Hartgrove should be excited for next season so long as she does get the head coach job, which many are hoping she does.
“I am proud of each and every one of these girls for the way they stuck through the year and accomplished some amazing feats,” Hartgrove said. “I’m especially proud of our five seniors (Brinkerhoff, Cisneros, Jachim, Mills, and Williams) who each turned in great years. There is definitely some room for improvement, but we’ll get to work with the objective of coming back and competing for a championship next season.”
The Pacific Coast Softball Conference recognized the outstanding individual performances of the Wolverines. Junior first baseman Amanda Robinson garnered first team all-PCSC honors and senior outfielder Kylee Brinkerhoff, senior shortstop Kyrstin Jachim, senior pitcher Tiffany Mills, and sophomore catcher Jamie North were selected to the second team. Sophomore utility player Kelli Fox and sophomore pitcher Josi Summers received honorable mention.
