The Tooele High School softball program showed that it is an elite program regardless of classification this year by winning the 4A State Softball Championship and going undefeated in the state tournament. Tooele had already won seven state titles in the 3A classification since 1991 with five of the eight coming in the last six years.

Head coach Barry Pitt, who guided the team to five of those state championships in the past six years, resigned his position two months after this year’s championship game. Also during 2008, Pitt was named 2007 West Section Coach of the Year for softball.

Steve Snow will replace Pitt as the new head softball coach at Tooele High School. Snow is the father of returning pitcher Mattie Snow and has worked with this group for several years as a coach in accelerated youth softball leagues.

Tooele finished the season tied with Springville for the Region 7 title with an 11-1 record and finished 22-5 overall. The Buffs were able to peak when they needed to in the state tourney, but there were a few setbacks along the way. For the first time ever Grantsville defeated Tooele in softball 5-4 in a wild finish and the Buffs lost one region game to Springville. They lost to 5A teams Taylorsville and Bingham, but drilled 5A Riverton 10-0.

Senior pitcher Lauren Folta was named 4A tournament MVP winning four consecutive games from the circle to lead her team at the state tournament.

Tooele won five consecutive games in the state tournament including a 5-1 victory over Wood Cross in the first round with Mattie Snow pitching.

The Buffs were forced to travel to St. George for a second-round game after losing a coin toss with co-region champ Springville. Tooele survived the trip to defeat a strong Dixie team 8-4. Kelsey Mendenhall blasted a three-run home run in the game to pace the Buffs.

Tooele advanced to the semi-finals with a 3-2 victory over Bountiful and then had to beat Murray twice to win the state championship. In the semi-final game Folta pitched a three-hitter and Tooele rolled to a 7-0 victory. The Buffs then won a heart-stopper against Murray in the championship game.

The score was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Brittany Gonzales belted a shot into left field. Freshman Whitney Holt came in as a pinch runner. When Marissa “Bug” Mendenhall came to the plate with only one out, she said the only thoughts going through her mind were to get on base and advance the runner. Instead, she belted a line drive to left-center, driving in a speeding Holt to win the game.

One of Tooele High’s softball alumni also earned major honors this year. Salt Lake Community College pitcher Lindsey Palmer was named National Junior College Female Athlete of Year.

Palmer went 29-2 this past season with 25 consecutive wins at one point during the season. She had 209 strike outs (second in NJCAA) and a .90 ERA. As captain, she helped lead the Bruins to a 43-10-1 record. Palmer tossed four no-hitters and her opponents could only muster a .111 batting average at the plate when she was on the mound. She will play at the University of Utah this year.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com