As Ridgeline’s top hitters continued approaching coach Michael Anderson in the build-up to the 2024 season asking to hit live pitches off freshman Brielle Gardiner, it affirmed what he kind of already suspected — Gardiner wasn’t going to be just an ordinary freshman.
“It means they viewed her as legitimate,” said Anderson. “The kids know before the coaches a lot of times.”
Those players knew that hitting off Gardiner, who was consistently touching the mid-60s on the radar gun, was the ideal way to prepare for the season.
For Gardiner, it helped set the expectation for a workload that ultimately led to a dream inaugural high school season that culminated in winning the 4A state championship and being named the 16th Deseret News Ms. Softball recipient — the first freshman in the history of the award.
Gardiner was a legit dual-threat player, someone who could stand in the circle and mow down the best lineups in the state with her fiery demeanor but then just as easily smash the ball against the best pitchers in the state.
To do all that as a 15-year-old is truly remarkable, but realistically all she wanted to do was win a championship.
“I was super proud to help my team get there, ‘cause last year they came up short,” said Gardiner.
Gardiner finished the season by tying the state record with 27 wins in addition to a state-best 0.77 ERA, 246 strikeouts, 14 shutouts, four no-hitters and a stretch at one point of 32 consecutive scoreless innings.
That alone made her one of the best players in the state, but it only tells half the story. She was equally as great at the plate, batting .532 with nine home runs, 11 doubles and 55 RBIs.
In fact, as Anderson projects ahead a few years to when every major college program in the country will be looking to sign Gardiner, he envisions that the program that lets her hit and pitch will be the winner.
And anyone who doubts that ability, beware. Anderson said Gardiner has Michael Jordan-like rabbit ears and can hear when opponents doubt or disrespect her.
“She loves to hear that other people doubt her or that they want to challenge her. That is her favorite thing in sports is to beat challenges and to go at people,” said Anderson.
Gardiner’s mom, Heidi, played softball in college at Utah State, but when she was younger, Brielle Gardiner was enjoying playing softball and soccer. Softball eventually won out as she started playing on more competitive travel teams.
Initially, Gardiner played in the outfield, but she found it extremely boring. She wanted in on the action. When her mom asked if she wanted to player catcher, the rebuttal was quick — she wanted to pitch.
What became apparent quickly was she could throw hard, almost always harder than anyone else her age. That was certainly the case this past high school season as she was clocked as high as 68 mph and consistently at 64.
Her top three pitches were her drop ball, changeup and rise ball — with the drop ball her go-to pitch. On the rare occasions when a hitter squared up her speed, it often led to a home run as Gardiner generated so much power on the pitch to the plate.
The coaching staff tried to curtail that by mixing in changeups now and again, but Gardiner admits hitting her spots wasn’t always her strength in 2024 as she walked 53 batters.
She said there’s a lot she hopes to continue to work on mechanically that should help with her spin and command throughout the summer of travel ball with team Bandits from Washington along with attending college camps.
Gardiner said she loves the process of putting in the work and getting better. The mental aspect of that process was something Gardiner got better at throughout the high school season.
On her travel team, she often only pitches three innings a game and then has several days rest in between pitching again. For Ridgeline this season, she started 28 of 31 games and had to always be dialed in and power through fatigue.
Gardiner admits it was a mental switch to throw so much.
“I knew I was going to pitch a lot, so I had to make the most out of every pitch. … Looking at the little picture. When you look at the big picture, you start to get overwhelmed and you start to get nervous of all the things coming up, but if you just take it little by little and what’s in front of you today and what’s in front of you in the next pitch, then it works out in the end,” said Gardiner.
Added Anderson, “Her mental focus was almost the thing I was most impressed with, how she was able to maintain her concentration.”
By the time Gardiner suits up again for Ridgeline next spring, she will have pitched hundreds and hundreds more pitches, added more muscle, smashed dozens more extra base hits and become even more mentally tough. There’s no telling what her sophomore encore season has in store.
Past Deseret News Ms. Softball winners
2023 — Avery Sapp, Spanish Fork
2022 — Kaysen Korth, Riverton
2021 — Chloe Borges, Riverton
2019 — Huntyr Ava, West
2018 — Kapri Toone, Bear River
2017 — Cambrie Hazel, Spanish Fork
2016 — Breah Ava, West
2015 — Kimbri Herring, Stansbury
2014 — Janessa Bassett, Stansbury
2013 — Tatiana Su’e Su’e, San Juan
2012 — Jordan Theurer, Bear River
2011 — MaCauley Flint, Roy
2010 — Tori Almond, Bingham
2009 — Shelbi Tyteca, Viewmont
2008 — Tori Almond, Bingham