Eagles JV softball go undefeated three years

undefeated:
Coach Toni Hillyard meets organizes her team between innings during the JV last game of the season against the Cubs last Thursday.

West Valley's junior varsity softball team has gone undefeated for three seasons in a row.

They played their last regular season game against Anderson on Thursday, beating them 12-1.

Eagles JV softball coach Toni Hillyard started coaching the junior varsity squad three years ago, and has been met with success each of those years.

"I've enjoyed coaching all three years," Hillyard said.

"The secret is ... I can't give out that secret," she joked. "We've got a lot of talented ladies. They work well together, and some of these girls have been playing ball since they were little. They mesh well together."

Hillyard said many of her ball players grew up playing in the Cottonwood Little League, and have had some good coaches throughout the years. And although Hillyard has always had star players, all of the athletes have contributed to West Valley's success.

"You could single out this one or that one. But I would never do that," she said. "You have 13 ball players and each and every one of them bring something to the game. Whether they play all the time, or they don't play all the time."

Hillyard credits her assistant coaches for sticking by her and supporting the team, including her assistant coach this year, John Nevens.

The JV coach said she is especially proud of her softball team this year, she said they've overcome adversity throughout the season.

"We struggled a little bit. We had a lot of injuries. We played five of our league games with nine players, so there was no room for anybody to get hit, or ill," she said. "One game we had two really sick girls, I had to call one from home. We had some big challenges this year. I'm just very, very proud of them."