If you asked the Bonneville Lakers what their season’s been like, they will tell you that it’s been an up-and-down campaign. They’ve strung together some great results, but they’ve also struggled to remain consistent.
But with playoff time upon them, it appears as though the Lakers are finding their groove at the ideal moment.
After securing a 13-3 victory over Murray on Saturday, Bonneville turned out another solid showing on Monday, defeating the Spartans 14-3 in six innings to close out the regional matchup and advance to the 5A super regionals.
Bonneville coach Shelby Healy said that her team — which had to replace seven seniors from last year’s squad that finished 22-7 — is starting to discover and thrive in their individual roles.
“My team is so good at everybody playing their role and doing their job,” Healy said. “They made some incredible plays (today) and played together as a team, and our bats just got it done.”
The Lakers had seven players record two or more hits, compiling a whopping 19 hits as a team.
Despite only leading by one run after 3.5 innings, Bonneville erupted for 12 runs over the final 2.5 to blow the game open and secure the series win an inning early.
Senior Peighton Summers’ bat was particularly hot from start to finish. The first baseman finished the game 5-for-5 with six RBIs–one of which ended the game in the bottom of the six, as the Lakers’ lead stretched to double-digits.
Healy said that it was a fairly average game for Summers, who she said has been “seeing the ball really well” as of late, but the senior herself said she knew she set out to make her final home game a particularly special one.
“It’s been kind of emotional, but I was just talking to them (before the game) and I was like, ‘Hey we’ve got to come out with a bang and put it all out there,’” Summers said.
She delivered on her mission to start the game strong, as she batted in two runners on her first at-bat in the bottom of the first. The two runs ended up being the only runs scored for the Lakers in the first three innings before they erupted over the final three.
Emmaline DeGroot and Brityn Buchanan each finished with two RBIs, while Morgan Rich and Mylee Pedersen each notched one.
Runs came aplenty, but the defense was equally as stellar as the offense, especially in the infield, where the Lakers rallied to only concede three runs off of nine Murray hits.
Pitching has been solid all year long for the Lakers — with DeGroot returning to the circle after a second team all-state season last year — but the improved infield play has been a crucial development for Bonneville, which, according to Summers, struggled with infield play early in the campaign.
“At the beginning of the season it was kind of rough, but now I feel like we’re peaking,” Summers said. “I just know that if Emmaline gets that ground ball, we’re going to make the out. I think our defense has a lot of trust in each other and we know that the other (player) will make the play.”
For the Lakers, the task now becomes whether they can maintain their recent run of form. Summers said that the key for the team will be focusing on playing for each other, like they have nothing to lose.
Healy said that she feels her team is ready for whatever challenge the Super Regionals may present — though she might not have been as assured earlier in the season.
“We’re hungry for these next wins,” Healy said. “I feel confident in these girls and I think they’re confident in each other. I feel like it’s taken us a while to get going this year, opposed to last year, but we’re going now. We’re ready for whoever (we face).”