If your softball team is part of Region 2, you know the high-level play is going to prepare you for the postseason. 

Just ask the Mountain Ridge Sentinels. 

The Sentinels may have taken some lumps in region play this past season, but that didn’t mean the team was a pushover. Mountain Ridge placed 3-7 in league play, finishing in fourth place. But considering who the Sentinels had to face week in and week out, the team performed admirably. Mountain Ridge was 14-11 overall and reached bracket play in the Class 6A state tournament. 

Region 2 also featured state champion Riverton, state runner-up Bingham and Herriman, which reached the semifinals. 

Mountain Ridge earned the No. 8 seed in the tournament and began by defeating ninth-seeded Westlake 5-0 and 5-1 in the best-of-three series May 16 and 17. The Sentinels then gave Riverton everything it could handle, falling 7-4 on May 21. In the consolation round, Mountain Ridge lost to No. 4 seed Pleasant Grove 7-1 on May 21 to end its season. 

Head coach Andre Ashton was happy with the team’s effort in the tournament and throughout the 2024 campaign. He was especially pleased with the girls’ resilience and attitude. Most games presented formidable challenges, and the Sentinels were up for the task.

“I think we had a good season as a whole,” he said. “One thing our team did a really, really good job with was staying together. We have a really tough region and had a really tough schedule, which led to not winning as much as we’d like, but our team stayed together all season long.”

Coming into the season, Ashton and his team knew the region battles would be difficult. Ashton wanted the girls to compete every game and to improve throughout the season. Reflecting on the season, Ashton said he believes the girls met and even surpassed his expectations.

“I think we accomplished our goal, which is to be playing the best as a group by the end of the season,” he said. “At the end of the day, only one team really gets to be truly happy, and I feel like we put together a product that gave us a chance to win and be competitive.”

Mountain Ridge had a number of standout performers. In particular, Ashton highlighted the play of Brooklyn Van Renselaar, who was voted Second-Team All-State; Adison Brooks, who was voted Second-Team All-State; Sierra Beratto, who was Honorable Mention All-State; and Tatyana Toala, who achieved Honorable Mention All-State recognition. 

Van Renselaar had five RBI this season, while Brooks hit two home runs, two triples and seven doubles, all while driving in 29 runs. Beratto hit a home run and hit a triple and seven doubles. Beratto also had 19 RBI. Meanwhile, Toala hit two home runs, six triples and three doubles. Toala also brought in 19 runs this past season. Brooks also did a lot of pitching and had 52 strikeouts and went 9-6 on the year. 

“Those four players were huge for us all season long,” Ashton said. 

The Sentinels’ other main pitcher, Sydney Lambert, was 5-4 and struck out 45 batters. She also drove in nine runs from the plate and hit three triples and two home runs. 

Region 2 isn’t likely to be any less competitive in 2025. Fortunately for Mountain Ridge, the Sentinels appear to be in good shape next season. The team returns some key players and should have a deep, experienced roster. Ashton believes Mountain Ridge could be a force next year. 

“We have really high expectations for next year,” Ashton said. “We only lose two seniors, so we have eight of the 10 players who played significant varsity innings coming back. So, we have high expectations and goals to be competing into the end of the season next year.”

The offseason will be critical. 

During the summer and spring, players will play club ball, while others may participate in other sports. Winter conditioning is an important factor that can help the girls be physically ready for the upcoming season. Ashton wants to see each girl improve in every facet of the game. The players have a lot of work to do, but Ashton is confident in the girls’ abilities and desires to work hard and put forth the necessary effort. 

“Every single player in our program needs to come back a more complete and consistent softball player,” he said. “I always believe that the best players are the most consistent ones, or those ones that you know what you’re going to get out of them every time they step on the field. Next year, our team is no longer young and hopeful. We should have high expectations, and in order to reach those goals every kid in our program needs to come back significantly better. We need them to be better hitters, have better range in the infield and outfield, have more speed and quickness and have more athleticism all around.”

In his five years at the school, Ashton, the program’s only coach in its young history, has amassed a 75-37 record. This includes the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign when the team only played three games. The Sentinels went 25-5 under Ashton in 2021 and advanced all the way to the state championship game, falling in a pair of games to Spanish Fork. The Sentinels were also 19-8 in 2022 before going 15-12 during the 2023 season.  λ