The most exciting aspect of this year's 4A and 5A softball state tournaments is that no one really knows who will win. There are no heavy favorites, and a handful of teams in each classification have been playing well enough to earn their schools the trophy.
5A softball
The No. 1 ranked team right now is Taylorsville, and they are the only 5A squad to go undefeated in region play. The Warriors have solid pitching, led by Diana Phillips, and a strong offense with Dabney Sundquist, Phillips and Staci Hemmingway leading the way. The team is one of the best defensively, especially when speedy Phillips is in centerfield instead of on the mound.
The Warriors will face Hillcrest, a very athletic, emotional and unpredictable squad.
Bingham, the third-ranked team, was the mid-season favorite by a mile. But the Miners have shown their vulnerability lately with a loss to Alta and an extra-inning loss to Jordan. The Miners have strong pitching in Amber Sackett and Somre Flores and some of the best bats around in Katie McBride, Hailey Davenport and Shandy Van Orden.
The Miners open with Clearfield, region 3's No. 6 seed.
Alta, ranked No. 2, has very similar strengths in pitchers Kim Todd and Corie Jensen, both of whom have already signed with colleges. They have Rodeo Carli, Natalie Paulsen and Amanda Vance, who've been hitting the ball extremely well lately.
The fourth-ranked team, Fremont, was also heavily favored in the pre-season. They had a good season, but dropped a game to Davis during region play. The Silver Wolves, like the other ranked teams have solid defense, led by shortstop Keli Flinders and one of the state's best pitchers in Hailey Shummers. They're also a very offensively powerful squad top to bottom.
The Silver Wolves open with a team that's made great strides this season and could upset some squads, Riverton.
The fifth-ranked team in 5A is Jordan, and they open with what may be the toughest first-round opponent in Kearns. The Cougars finished the season with losses to Hunter and Taylorsville, but they have solid pitching and above average hitting.
4A softball
The unpredictability is even more pronounced in the 4A tournament.
The Spanish Fork Dons are ranked No. 1 in the classification where every team felt the sting of losing. They open with West at home and should have no problem reaching Thursday's game against either Lone Peak or Box Elder.
In Region 4, Box Elder, Bonneville and Roy are the favorites and they've spent the season as they usually do — beating up on each other. That mean's no team is without a loss, but the Laker's definitely finished the strongest and are currently ranked third.
They open with Woods Cross, region five's No. 4 seed.
Box Elder and Roy both have new coaches, but still have extremely strong programs and haven't seemed to miss a beat this season. The Bees open with Lone Peak, region seven's No. 3 seed. The Royals have the toughest draw in fourth-ranked Mtn. View. The Bruins return everything needed for a championship run in pitching, solid defense and powerful hitting.
In region five, Murray goes in as it usually does: the No. 1 seed. But they lost the second region meeting with Bountiful, a team that is looking to do more than play in the consolation bracket. The Braves gained confidence with the win over the Spartans, and they're looking to do more than just make a trip to the Cottonwood Complex. The second-ranked Braves open at home with a tough game against a solid Payson team. The match-up promises to be one of the most exciting first-round games.
Orem is ranked fifth and the Tigers earned the region seven top spot and open with Sky View. They have future Salt Lake Community College players Devrie Downey pitching and Marsha Hemuli catching.
Springville isn't ranked right now, but could be in the running for the title, also.
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com