This year’s USU Eastern softball team was definitely one to remember as the season was cut short. With a 12-7 record, this was the best season so far for the program.
We asked head coach Shelby Shurtliff some questions about how this season went and here were her responses:
What were some of your goals as a coach this year?
“Our goal as a team this year was to get 1% better every day on the field and off of it as well. We wanted to have a winning record and compete for the region title. My goal as a coach was to have a winning record and I wanted to achieve that with high intensity practices.”
The Lady Eagles were definitely getting 1% better every time they faced an opponent and were well on their way to a region title.
What were some of the high points of the season?
“We played really well at our pre-season tournament in Vegas. We beat a nationally ranked team and came from behind to beat another well respected program. The following weekend, we continued to play great in Yuma.”
During these pre-season tournaments, the Eagles went 8-3, the best in program history.
What did you learn as a coach this year?
“I learned how capable our girls are of doing the difficult things and it’s our job as coaches to challenge them to keep them improving. Another thing I learned is that we are going to have bad days no matter how good we are, and you just have to work through it and not get frustrated.”
Next year, there will be a few girls returning, including pitchers Emma Marchant and Nyah DeRyke, who are both sophomores taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility. Others returning are infields Jenna Sutliff, Marisa Bowman, Shayna Alofipo and Tanzie Gasu.
“I think our season went very well even though it was cut short. Our pitchers stepped up a lot and did a great job for us. Our lineup did great with staying consistent and stringing our hits together. We never had a problem with scoring and that was such a huge relief as a coach. We also came up clutch in key situations that led us to a lot of our wins,” said Shurtliff.
There is not current date set for a summer camp, but after everything clears up, the softball program will have one and send out dates.