Over the last four years, when something went boom in the night at BYU, it was typically Huntyr Ava hitting a home run. This spring, with Ava graduated, there is a new noise maker on campus — Ilove’a Brittingham.
“She can hit a ton, and she can hit it a long way. She is a competitor,” BYU softball coach Gordon Eakin told the “Y’s Guys” podcast this week. “I am really excited for her career and the fact that she can help us with a lot of those power numbers that we lost.”
Brittingham is a freshman from Nipomo, California. Last year, at Oaks Christian School, she earned NCSAA National Hitter of the Year honors with her .540 batting average, 38 RBI and 19 home runs.
“If you look at Ava’s career, it was exceptional — a tough bat to lose from the lineup and tough leadership to lose, but Ilo is Huntyr on steroids,” Eakin said. “She is going to be fun to watch from the plate.”
Replacing Ava won’t be easy. The Rose Park, Utah, product played 222 games at BYU and hit 63 home runs. She also delivered 233 RBI with her 233 hits and had a slugging percentage of .700. Brittingham is at the beginning of her BYU run, but her hitting power is beyond her years.
“She might hit some down into the Chevron parking lot,” Eakin said with a laugh. “She is all that.”
Brittingham, a catcher and outfielder, joins infielder Danica Acosta (El Centro, California) and pitcher Jada Villegas (San Bernardino, California) on Softball America’s Freshman Watch List. Freshman infielder Bre Townsend (Buena Park, California) is on D1 Softball’s Top 100 Watch List.
The newcomers join a team that took its lumps last season during BYU’s Big 12 debut. Lily Owens, a preseason All-Big 12 utility player, Hailey Morrow, Maddie Udall-Wooley, Kaysen Korth and Kate Dahle are among 15 returners that learned a lot during their 11-16 Big 12 run.
“You have to be resilient. You have to be able to get punched in the mouth and pick yourself up, not only during the game, but also between the games,” Eakin said. “I think we also learned that we can compete with anybody in the country.”
Three of BYU’s Big 12 wins came against No. 4 Oklahoma State in Provo, No. 1 Oklahoma in Norman and No. 3 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament. Perhaps the most improbable finish was against Houston. BYU fell behind 8-0 in the first inning and rallied to win 17-15 when Ava delivered the boom with a ninth inning grand slam.
“A lot of those experiences really helped our returning nucleus and that’s what we have talked about,” said Eakin, who has 831 career victories at BYU. “It’s gonna help us going forward along with the quality of new players that we have.”
BYU is picked fifth in the Big 12 preseason poll, just ahead of Utah and behind four teams ranked in the top 25. The Cougars opens the season Feb. 6 against UC San Diego in La Jolla, California, and will play their first 24 games in warmer climates before opening the 25th anniversary season at Gail Miller Field against Idaho State on March 13.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.