By Josh McFadden | [email protected]

In the lengthy softball season, a team can rebound from a challenging start and still make noise in the postseason.

That’s what the Brighton Bengals are aiming for.

As of April 18, the Bengals were 3-9 overall but an even 2-2 in Region 7 standings. The team must finish in at least fourth place out of six teams in league play to return the state tournament, a place it hasn’t been since 2013.

Last season, Brighton narrowly missed a chance to reach the playoffs, but it fell in a region play-in game after finishing in a tie for the final spot in Region 3.

The 2018 campaign has been an up-and-down one for the Bengals.

Brighton started the season off with five losses, four of which came in the March Warm-up Elite Tournament in St. George in early March. Even in defeat, Brighton showed some life offensively in the tournament, scoring 13 runs against American Fork and nine against Mountain Crest.

The Bengals had to wait until its sixth game on March 13 to pick up their first victory, but they did so in emphatic fashion. Brighton clobbered Skyline in a score that more resembled that of a football game: 20-0. The game only went four innings because the Bengals turned it into a rout so quickly. In the fourth inning alone, Brighton scored 12 runs.          

A week later, Brighton kept up the offensive fireworks in a run-filled 16-13 victory over Alta in the Region 7 opener. Brighton scored seven runs in the third inning and then again in the sixth. It held off a late Alta rally to get off to a good start in region action.

The Bengals’ other league victory during its first 12 games came against Timpview on March 22. Brighton was once again prolific from the plate, but this time, it tightened up the defense in a 14-5 win. Aleya Stotesbery hit a home run in the big victory, while teammates Margaret Corcoran and Brynlee Diggs added doubles. The Bengals were up just 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth but then amassed six runs in the inning to pull away.

Brighton was off to a 2-0 start in the region standings before falling to Cottonwood on March 27, 8-2, and to Corner Canyon on March 29, 9-4.

The erratic weather has made things difficult on Brighton and other local softball games. Brighton will face each league foe twice before playing its last region game May 3 at Jordan. The team has scheduled a pair of non-region games to finish the regular season: May 8 at former Region 3 rival West Jordan and May 11 at Granger. 

The Class 5A state softball tournament is set to begin May 15 at the home sites of higher-seeded teams. The later rounds will be held at the Valley Complex in Taylorsville on May 22–24.