By Josh McFadden | [email protected]

Last year, an experienced Bingham softball team dominated Region 4 on its way to an undefeated record and a championship. The title wasn’t a huge surprise, but repeating as the No. 1 team this season turned some heads.

Bingham entered the 2019 campaign with a mostly new group of players, as heavy graduation losses left head coach Mikki Jackson essentially starting from scratch. 

You wouldn’t know it by the way the team played once league play got underway. 

The Miners dropped their first region game to Pleasant Grove and then reeled off seven straight victories to end the regular season. In six of those seven wins, the Miners allowed no more than three runs. They posted three shutouts during that stretch. The offense was no slouch either. Bingham had blowout wins over Lone Peak (14-0 and 18-1), Herriman (8-0) and American Fork (9-2). 

Aubree Hogan was stellar from the plate this season. The junior was a powerful hitter, clobbering seven home runs and contributing 11 doubles and a triple. Emily Dority, a sophomore, hit four home runs, seven doubles and a pair of triples. Another youngster, freshman Eliza Chapple, hit five doubles and two triples on the year. 

From the mound, sophomore Averi Hanny had a spectacular season. She posted an undefeated 11-0 record and even added a home run and triple from the plate. Dority picked up four wins as a pitcher. 

The future bodes well for the Miners, as a host of key contributors have one, two or even three more years with the program. Freshmen Chloe Latu, Noelani Barawis and Avery King also played big roles on the team, as did sophomore Paige Braunbeck and junior Alayna Haas. 

Of course, there’s still work to done in the present. The Miners went into the Class 6A state tournament as the No. 1 seed from Region 4. In the first round on May 13, they handled Granger, the No. 4 team from Region 2 with ease, cruising to a 15-0 win. It only took Bingham four innings to finish off the Lancers. The Miners posted eight runs in the third inning alone. Impressively, the pitching and field efforts of Bingham held Granger without a single hit. Hogan hit a home run and a triple. Chapple and Dority each had a double and a triple. 

The Miners followed that up with a come-from-behind win over Fremont to win 5-4. 

The victories pushed the Miners forward in the double-elimination playoffs. Bingham will look to improve on last season’s showing when it won its first three playoff games but then dropped two in a row.