I started playing rec ball when I was 6 years old. There were girls on my team who I continued to play ball with up through eighth grade. Many of those girls now have younger sisters who played on the Buffaloes championship-winning team.
When I was in sixth grade Tooele County formed its first 14-and-under accelerated team, the Tooele Tornadoes. I played as an alternate for much of the year as many of the players were in eighth grade. Barry Pitt and Brad Patch coached this team and started the foundation of Tooele's softball dynasty.
The next year, with most of the players going into high school, another team was formed, TC Thunder. Herman Herrera and Patch coached this team, along with the Tornadoes, had a mission, to show all of the Salt Lake City area teams, that Tooele was good.
As I was keeping score in an old scorebook during the Tooele vs. Murray championship game on Thursday I looked back to see who I played with during that time. Staci (Patch) Williams, Patch's daughter played on my team, along with Cherise Herrera, who's younger sister Alleesha is a freshman on the THS softball team. I played with sophomore Seirra Bleazard's older sister Kellie for several years from the knee-high level of softball all the way through to playing on TC Thunder.
Softball in Tooele isn't just a thing girls do from year to year but something sisters do together as well. My older sister played on the Tornadoes the year before I joined the team. Sisters Kelsey and Marissa Mendenhall on this year's championship team probably started out the same way. Because Kelsey is a senior and Marissa a freshman, this is the only year they can play together in high school.
In addition to the legacy Tooele softball will definitely leave behind, is the Tooele/Murray rivalry. I remember playing against Murray on the Tooele recreation all-star team. Every year during the tournament we would have to play Murray. Some years they beat us and others we beat them, but that rivalry has been stuck in my mind since then. Pitt even commented on it after taking the state title Thursday.
What's funny is Murray first basemen Lyndi Miller plays on the 18 and under TC Thunder team during the summer. Miller catches and plays first for the Tooele team. So when Miller got up to bat against pitcher Lauren Folta, Miller wasn't looking at her as a summer teammate but as a rival and a friend.
After the game, several of the Spartan softball players came over to offer their congratulations and give hugs to some of the Tooele players.
The Buffaloes have to be commended for the excellent run in high school softball. They proved they are the best team in 4A and may be one of the best teams in the entire state. It's a legacy that started in 1998 by Pitt and Patch and has lasted through the years. Very few Utah high school teams can say that. As long as they continue to coach together and the recreational and accelerated leagues continue to teach girls at a young age about competitive softball, Tooele will be unstoppable.
missy@tooeletranscript.com
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