With the end of the 2025 regular season in sight, the Lady Dragons improved their record to an impressive 20-2 as they added three more to the win column after defeating conference opponents Wendell and Declo on the road and Bonneville at home.  

It was a 16-0 victory over the Trojans in Wendell on Friday, April 25. Going 0-0 through the first five innings, it wasn’t until the sixth inning that the MHS team was finally able to make any headway on the scoreboard.  Commenting on their hitting, Head Coach Bri Adams shared, “It’s not that we weren’t connecting with the ball- we only had one strikeout the entire game.  It’s just that we were hitting straight into their defense.  Finally in that last inning we were finally able to get under the ball a little better.”

While their offense was still coming, the Lady Dragon defense held the Trojans at bay, keeping them scoreless throughout the entire game.  Pitcher Liddia Gonzalez led the team’s defensive effort, striking out an incredible 16 Wendell batters. 

In addition to the tough pitching, Bostyn Combs forced the out, catching a fly ball in center field in the bottom of the second inning.  Riglee Peterson forced the out to end the fifth inning, coming over from shortstop to tag the runner attempting to steal third base off the assist from catcher Logan Maroney.

The following day, the Lady Dragons took on the Declo Hornets for their second matchup of the season.  In contrast to their earlier game, Malad got on the scoreboard early with 4 runs in the opening inning.  Peterson pounded a hit over the fence on the second pitch of the game to take an immediate 1-0 lead.  

Slowly accumulating runs in nearly every inning, the MHS team found themselves up after seven innings, 11-2.  Nearing the end of the game and with two outs ahead of her, Maroney cleared the fence with her hit, bookending the game with a final home run.

Getting a game in Monday afternoon, the Lady Dragons claimed another win as they took down the 5A Bonneville Bees in a tight contest that was decided in the last inning of the game.  Up to bat first, the Bees managed multiple base hits after a quick strikeout.  But before their runners could make their way around the bases, the Lady Dragons threw another strikeout and caught the runner attempting to steal third to end the Bonneville offensive game.  

Peterson started the hitting in a big way with another home run for the senior.  But keeping the hits going was a challenge for the Malad throughout the game. “It has been a while since we had seen a really good pitcher like we saw tonight.  It was a great experience at the plate for the girls,” shared Coach Adams.

Malad carried their 1-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth when Peterson hit a second home run, punching in Tylee Venable, running bases after Sarah Toone had a base hit, to make it 3-0.  While the marginal lead felt more sure than earlier, softball is a game that can change in a second, and that sure lead didn’t last long.

Bonneville’s offense made a push in the sixth inning, hitting two home runs with two RBIs to suddenly take the lead.  Even with a change of pitcher to give them a different look from behind the plate, the Bees were suddenly in control of the game.  

Moving to the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Dragons tallied three strikeouts in four plate appearances bringing the game to its final inning.  The plan was simple for Malad- hold Bonneville from scoring in the top of the inning, and stack up two runs in the bottom of the inning to win the game.

Easier said than done, unless you watched the final inning play out.  

Peterson opened the inning with three consecutive strike pitchers to force the first out.  The second Bee batter connected with the ball on a 2-1 count, hitting it towards Peterson who quickly scooped up the ball to throw to Venable on first for the second out.  Peterson finished the inning with a final strikeout, throwing 9 strikes and 1 ball, almost effortlessly.

Moving to the bottom of the inning, senior Teagan Daniels was up to bat, setting the tone for the lineup behind her.  With 1 strike and 1 ball, Daniels turned to her coach to take in a little strategic play for a base hit.  Just as the pitcher went to throw the ball, Daniels put the bat up to bunt.  But then as the pitch came her way, she pulled back the fake out, and slapped the ball, perfectly placing it between the infielders to get herself on base.

With coaches, teammates, and fans cheering Daniels on after such a perfectly executed hit, there was a palpable momentum shift, a surge of energy in the Lady Dragons game.  Brylee Oglesbee battled it out at the plate behind her, hitting another strategic bunt to send Daniels to second base and around to third, sliding in just ahead of the ball.  As the Bees focused on Daniels making her way around, Oglesbee took advantage, speeding on to second base.  Toone followed with another big single hit to center field, batting in Daniels to tie the score, 4-4.

Back to the top of the lineup with Peterson to bat, Bonneville intentionally walked the hitter, accepting her on base rather than risking a third big hit by the slugger.  With the bases loaded and zero outs, slap hitter Hadley Summers settled in at the plate.  Nicking the first pitch, Summers made full contact with the second to send a line drive past the third baseman into the left field, punching Oglesbee in for the game winning run.

Coach Adams told her team after the game, “That was a great team win!  We played great defense, players stepped up where we needed, and we played smart- everything we needed to win!”  

Analyzing the game, various players played a crucial role to help the Lady Dragons claim the win.  Gonzalez started in the pitcher’s circle for Malad, winning battle after battle at the plate, striking out 11 batters.  To shake up the Bee’s batting, Peterson came in to pitch in the 6th inning, striking out an additional 5 batters.  In addition to her pitching, Peterson had multiple key hits, along with Toone, Daniels, Oglesbee, and Summers.  Anisityn Tovey, Oglesbee, and Peterson played tough defense, getting the out on multiple pop flies hit by Bonneville.

The Lady Dragons move into their final week of games to end the regular season, traveling to West Side on Tuesday, April 30 before hosting Soda Springs on Thursday, May 1.  In addition to celebrating the outgoing seniors, Malad will begin the afternoon play with a special ceremony as they play for the first time on the new softball field across from Malad High School.

Malad @ Wendell

Friday, April 25, 2025

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H

Malad  0 0 0 0 0 16 - 16 19

Wendell 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2

Lineup AB R H RBI BB

Riglee Peterson 4 2 3 1 0

Hadlee Summers 4 1 1 1 0

Aubrey Shulz 4 2 1 0 0

Logan Maroney 4 0 2 0 0

Liddia Gonzalez 4 1 1 1 0

Bostyn Combs 4 2 3 3 0

Teagan Daniels 4 2 2 3 0

Brylee Oglesbee 4 2 4 1 0

Tylee Venable 4 2 2 3 0

TEAM TOTALS  36 16 19 13 0

Pitching IP H R BB SO

Liddia Gonzalez 6.0 0 2 0 16

Malad @ Declo

Saturday, April 26, 2025

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H

Malad  4 0 2 1 3 0 1 11 10

Declo 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 4

Lineup AB R H RBI BB

Riglee Peterson 4 2 2 2 0

Hadlee Summers 4 2 1 0 1

Aubrey Shulz 3 1 0 0 0

Logan Maroney 4 1 2 2 0

Liddia Gonzalez 4 1 1 1 0

Bostyn Combs 4 1 1 1 0

Teagan Daniels 4 0 1 1 0

Brylee Oglesbee 2 1 0 0 2

Tylee Venable 4 1 1 0 0

TEAM TOTALS  33 11 10 7 3

Pitching IP H R BB SO

Riglee Peterson 7.0 4 2 0 10

Malad vs Bonneville

Monday, April 28, 2025

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H

Bonneville 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 3

Malad  1 0 0 0 2 0 2 5 8

Lineup AB R H RBI BB

Riglee Peterson 3 2 2 3 1

Hadlee Summers 4 0 1 1 0

Aubrey Shulz 3 0 0 0 0

Logan Maroney 3 0 0 0 0

Liddia Gonzalez 2 0 0 0 0

Stella Merja 1 0 1 0 0

Bostyn Combs 2 0 0 0 0

Teagan Daniels 3 1 1 0 0

Brylee Oglesbee 3 1 1 0 0

Tylee Venable 1 1 0 0 0

Sarah Toone 2 0 2 1 0

TEAM TOTALS  27 5 8 5 1

Pitching IP H R BB SO

Liddia Gonzalez 5.0 2 2 2 11

Riglee Peterson 2.0 1 2 1 5

TEAM TOTALS 7.0 3 4 3 16