ST. GEORGE — After a season of firsts, the Utah Tech women’s softball team departed the diamond last weekend. Some of them closed their lockers as their summer breaks began.

But the six seniors — Kate Dolinski, Ashtyn Bauerle, Shea Clements, Hannah Hughbanks, Brylee Rudd and Malory Eldredge — have graduated. Some won’t play organized softball again, while others will continue to play or coach or somehow stay involved with the sport.

But one thing they’ll always have, said one standout player, is each other — and their season to remember.

“These girls brought the joy and life of the game to me when I was losing it,” First-team All-Western Athletic Conference selectee and Pitcher of the Year Kate Dolinski said. “They are the people that I turn to on my good days and my bad days.”

Dolinski, who transferred from Pace University in New York, had plenty of good days as a Trailblazer. Utah Tech coach Randy Simkins said he is “pretty sure I told her ‘no’ at least twice during the recruiting process,” and it wasn’t exactly easy when she arrived. The native of Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada, went 1-6 in 2021. But over the next two seasons, Dolinski compiled a 17-12 record with 115 strikeouts and 195.2 innings pitched.

“She’s come in and competed and made us deeper as a pitching staff every year,” Simkins said. “Kate’s celebrations on the mound of a good pitch or a good play behind her will be greatly missed.”

Her post-Utah Tech plan is as follows: “I’m headed back to Canada to prepare for Team Canada tryouts in early June. Pending an opportunity to be on Team Canada will determine whether I head to Europe to play overseas for four months. So I’m not saying goodbye to the sport just yet.”

Fellow pitcher Ashtyn Bauerle, who was a freshman redshirt, logged over 200 innings in the circle and fanned 107 batters. The Syracuse native was dubbed by Simkins as “easily the most comfortable team spokesperson ever.”

“There will never be another like Ashtyn,” Simkins said. “She just comes in and spins it and gets good hitters out. Obviously, as a lefty, she brings a different look to our staff, and she’s made our hitters better by competing against them in practice all the time. Her passion and emotion are always on display, but that’s what makes her so good.”  

Shea Clements, the WAC Player of the Year who led the conference with a .441 batting average, “committed to us early in high school,” Simkins said. The versatile catcher and outfielder was a four-year starter Simkins called “one of the most physically gifted players with strength and speed we’ve had.”

“A young lady who played with a ton of passion and emotion … that has been a huge part of what we have been able to do as a team,” Simkins said.

On the basepaths, Clements tortured opponents. In fact, in 2022, she was a perfect 17 for 17 on stolen base attempts.

Brylee Rudd, a four-year starter from Spanish Fork, Utah, was a four-year starter at both catcher and third base. Across her Utah Tech career, she fielded at a .937 clip.

“Very talented defensively — our pitchers loved to throw to her because of how quiet and easy she received the ball and how hard she worked behind the plate,” said Simkins, adding that Rudd was “very well respected by her teammates because of her work ethic and how she treated other people … great personality and an amazing student in the classroom.”

Steady and reliable at first base this season was Hannah Hughbanks, the 2022 WAC Defensive Player of the Year and 3-time first-team All-WAC selection. Hughbanks “makes some really difficult plays look easy,” Simkins said, “but the more you watch Hannah, the more you realize how crazy talented she is.”

In fact, Hughbanks fielded at a .990 clip this season, committing just three errors in 304 chances. In 2022, she tallied a .993 fielding percentage, with just two miscues in 302 chances. From Chino Hills, California, Hughbanks was the team leader in three offensive categories — RBI (49), walks (28) and doubles (20) — and was second in runs scored (46).

Outfielder Malory Eldredge, who actually graduated last year, battled injuries the last two years but played a pivotal role, Simkins said, as a student assistant/director of operations. She remained active in the program this season while she began work on her nursing degree.

From Arvada, Colorado, Eldredge’s best season was in 2021 when she played in 46 games and batted .347 with 28 RBI and 21 runs scored.

“She was an amazing hitter for us, and could hit top-level pitching as well as anyone we had,” Simkins said. “We really missed her not being in our lineup as she’s recovered from injury.”

This group of seniors was part of several “firsts” in Utah Tech women’s softball history, including the Trailblazers’:

• First Division I regular season conference championship.
• First Division I post-season win in defeating UT-Arlington 6-4 on May 11.
• First win over a “Power 5” conference team, beating Oregon State 2-0 in what Simkins called a turning-point victory.

And while Utah Tech was eliminated from the WAC tournament by way of a 2-0 loss to Stephen F. Austin on May 12, the Trailblazers finished with an overall record of 35-18.

“All of them have been really good for us for a long time,” Simkins said. “They are a great group of seniors who have been very good for us since the first day they stepped on campus. They’ll be very difficult to replace.”

Editor note: Utah Tech’s Laura Lockard, who just finished her fourth year, will exercise her COVID eligibility option and play one more season next year and then will graduate, Simkins said.

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