Their teams repeated as state champions, and so did the Deseret News' All-State softball Most Valuable Players. Bingham catcher Pam McKissick and Tooele pitcher Leslie Russell picked up their second straight MVP nods from the News. Both are seniors for 1992.
McKissick batted .500 in state tournament play and had three game-winning RBI. For the regular season, she hit .467, down a bit from her .543 average last year. Her slugging percentage was .681.Russell pitched all but one inning this season for Tooele. She gave up only one extra-base hit in the five games of the 3A tournament, throwing a no-hitter to get the Buffaloes into the tourney. Russell's season earned-run average was 2.05, and she had 65 strikeouts. Russell also hit .381 in region play and scored 11 runs and drove in eight at the state tournament.
Bingham, the 4A state champion, placed five players on the Deseret News' All-State First Team (Mike Palmer, Sandy Rhea, Emily Rushton, Janet Lewis and McKissick) and another (Emily Draper) on the Second Team, and Tooele, the 3A champion for the second straight year after coming back through the losers' bracket, place five on the First Team (Shannon Lopez, Heidi Wickham, Karie Johnson, Marianne Bullis and Russell) and two (Darcy Hayes, Arlette Colovich) on the Second Team.
Voting was done by the state's coaches.
Box Elder, which lost to Tooele in the two-game 3A championship matchup a couple weeks ago, placed five players (Kim Koch, Katie Christensen, Tonya Stokes, DaNae Fuller and Mandy Crowson) on the 3A First Team, none on the second.
In 4A, Taylorsville picked up three First Team (Robynne Peterson, Amber Short, Shae Pearce) and two Second Team (Sherrie McKintosh, Teresa Turner) spots, and runner-up Hillcrest had three First Teamers (Stacie Reynolds, Kim Wilson, Stephanie Greensides), not bad for a team that was third in its region.
Alta and Bear River each had a First Teamer (Alta's Heather Timmell, Bear River's Chalyce Stevens) and two Second Teamers.
The other 4A First Team slot went to Skyline sophomore Shelly Karren, errorless at shortstop, also a catcher and a .350 hitter. She was voted second to Reynolds at short on several ballots, first-team by one rival coach. Reynolds, who has a scholarship to University of Utah, hit .505 this season. She got the majority of First Team votes.
Not enough Class 2A ballots were turned in to tabulate an All-State team. State champion Manti's Brenda Shand, a first baseman/pitcher, Delta's Sharlan Taylor and North Sanpete's Emily Allred, both pitchers, were voted First Team on all the ballots received.
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Deseret News 1992 3A All-State Softball Team
FIRST TEAM
1B - Shannon Lopez, Tooele
2B - Kim Koch, Box Elder
3B - Katie Christensen, Box Elder
SS - Heidi Wickham, Tooele
OF - Tonya Stokes, Box Elder
OF - DaNae Fuller, Box Elder
OF - Karie Johnson, Tooele
C - Marianne Bullis, Tooele
DH - Milissa Hill, Jordan
P - Debbie Bilbao, Jordan
P - Leslie Russell, Tooele
P - Mandy Crowson, Box Elder
Utility - Chalyce Stevens,
Bear River (SS, 2B, DH)
SECOND TEAM
1B - Jami Long, Bear River
2B - Michele Limb, Granite
3B - Darcy Hayes, Tooele
SS - Jenny Powell, Carbon
OF - Arlette Colovich, Tooele
OF - Kim Rieman, Bountiful
OF - Sabrina Davis, Bear River
C - Toni Hopes, Payson
DH - Rachelle Fillmore, Bountiful
P - Anna Vail, Sky View
P - Meggin Forbes, Pine View
P - Sarah Poppleton, Bear River
Deseret News 1992 4A All-State Softball Team
FIRST TEAM
1B - Heather Timmell, Alta
2B - Robynn Peterson, Taylorsville
3B - Mike Palmer, Bingham
SS - Stacie Reynolds, Hillcrest
OF - Sandy Rhea, Bingham
OF - Emily Rushton, Bingham
OF - Kim Wilson, Hillcrest
C - Pam McKissick, Bingham
DH - Amber Short, Taylorsville
P - Shae Pearce, Taylorsville
P - Janet Lewis, Bingham
P - Stephanie Greensides, Hillcrest
Utility - Shelly Karren,
Skyline (SS, C)
SECOND TEAM
1B - Sherrail Heslop, Weber
2B - Emily Draper, Bingham
3B - Kristi Logan, Alta
SS - Sherrie McKintosh, Taylorsville
OF - Kami Shrock, Weber
OF - Andrea Moore, Brighton
OF - Teresa Turner, Taylorsville
C - Julie Tanner, Bonneville
DH - Robyn Lewis, Highland
P - Amy Patterson, Bonneville
P - Sherie Holmes, Highland
P - Nikki Connor, Alta