By Josh Martinez | [email protected]

It’s been quite the season for the Riverton High School softball team.

The Silverwolves finished the regular season 17-1 with a perfect record in Region 3 play and finished the regular season with a No. 1 ranking in 6A. Furthermore, Riverton has outscored opponents 229-30, averaging wins by about 12 runs, with 10 shutouts.

The last time Riverton was this good was in 2016 when the team won the state title with a 24-5 record, including the postseason. 

Head coach Katelyn Elliott said the roster is solid from top to bottom with the underclassmen pushing the upperclassmen while still bonding. That bond, she said, has led to not just success but dominance.

“They have a mentality of there’s never enough runs and they’re going to attack every single pitch,” she said. “That’s something that we’ve talked about and they do a great job of that.”

The Silverwolves feature four seniors with a lot of players who are juniors on down making big impacts. This includes solid hitting and fielding with senior Chloe Borges and junior Kaysen Korth excelling in the pitching circle.

Borges said she couldn’t pinpoint one area she believes is Riverton’s biggest strength but a good relationship among teammates does help.

“We’ve got a really strong bond as the younger girls and the older girls connect really well,” she said. “That’s normally not a thing. We don’t argue, like at all. We definitely have fun and that’s a big part of it.”

Elliott is wrapping up her seventh season as Riverton head softball coach. She said she’s tried to craft a family atmosphere where players want to work hard together and look forward to being around each other.

That mindset has stuck this season for seniors Bella Peacock and Sheila Pardee. Peacock said her favorite part of the season was meeting the freshmen and helping them integrate into the team.

Pardee said she’s felt a sisterhood with the team because she trusts her teammates in any respect. That trust has helped shape Pardee’s leadership.

“It’s just awesome to know that we’re leaving behind a legacy of really strong players and I just want to represent the program in a way that they’ll want to represent it in the same way coming into the next years,” Pardee said.

Senior Bailey Hansen had surgery five games into the season, forcing her to watch the rest of the year from the dugout. She said she’s impressed with the energy the team has each game.

As for how the chemistry and energy comes about, Hansen said it all appears natural since the incoming freshmen all click easily.

While Hansen hasn’t played much this season, she still said her favorite part was being around her teammates because of how much she connects to her teammates.

“You feel the energy,” she said. “When you’re not on the field, you feel the energy.”

While it’s been a great run for the student-athletes, Elliott has had fun coaching them. She said this is mainly because of how coachable they are and how fun it is to coach them.

Elliott said this coachability is largely because her players are always trying to find ways to improve themselves and value the coaches’ feedback.

“They are very driven,” she said. “They believe they are the best team out there and they will go out there and prove that they’re the best team out there.”