Which Utah high school softball regions are the best?

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One dominant region has already produced a state champion in Utah high school softball. Will the story be the same for other dominant regions in the remaining state classifications?

Defending Class 5A champion Lehi faces stiff competition from several Salt Lake County and Davis County teams in its quest for a repeat title. The Pioneers (24-6) are the only Top 10 Class 5A team from outside those two counties. Top-ranked Riverton (19-5) leads the Salt Lake County contingent while Syracuse (20-4) is the top Davis County school.

Still, Lehi remains the favorite thanks to one of the best pitching duos in the state. Stefani Zimmerman and Syd White have combined for 20 wins and 164 strikeouts this season.



Region 8 dominates in Class 4A. Starting with top-ranked Spanish Fork, Region 8 schools make up half of the Top 10 rankings. The Dons (25-3) are positioned well to repeat as state champions. Junior pitcher Cambrie Hazel is one of the state's best. Hazel leads Class 4A with 182 strikeouts and has 19 wins this spring. As a team, Spanish Fork also scored 9.1 runs per game and has totaled 34 home runs.

Alta could be equally formidable in the playoffs. The Hawks (21-1) are the lone Top 10 team outside Region 8 or Region 5. It all starts with senior Brooke Vanderheide. As a pitcher, she leads the state with 20 wins. Vanderheide is first statewide in batting average (.722) and on base percentage (.767) as well.

Tooele County schools reign supreme in Class 3A. Stansbury, Grantsville and Tooele are ranked sixth or higher in the Top 10. The three-time defending state champion Stallions (18-6) have a dangerous batter in Anjalee Batchelor and a tough pitcher in Makayla Witkowski.

Juab may be the most dangerous Class 3A challenger to Stansbury. The Wasps (22-1) feature do-everything junior Taylei Williams. She leads the state in slugging percentage (1.567) and ranks in the top 10 statewide in home runs (11), batting average (.672), on-base percentage (.683), wins (13) and strikeouts (170).

2A Central proved to be the top Class 2A region, producing a state champion for second-straight year. Top-ranked Manti (25-3) scored 65 runs in five playoff games while allowing just 2.2 runs per contest. Mikaela Cox and Madison Cox combined for 100 runs this season to lead the potent Templars offense.

Here's a closer look at which regions have earned the bragging rights in each division, sorted by the MaxPreps Utah Softball Computer Rankings presented by the Army National Guard. Also check out the MaxPreps Utah softball playoff brackets



* Editor's note: Rankings are current as of Tuesday

Class 5A
1. Riverton, 19-5, Region 4
2. West (Salt Lake City), 24-3, Region 2
3. Syracuse, 20-4, Region 2
4. Lehi, 24-6, Region 4
5. Bingham (South Jordan), 16-8, Region 3
6. Davis (Kaysville), 14-8, Region 2
7. Fremont (Plain City), 17-7, Region 1
8. Herriman (West Herriman), 15-13, Region 4
9. Taylorsville, 15-8, Region 3
10. Clearfield, 15-9, Region 1

Class 4A
1. Spanish Fork, 25-3, Region 8
2. Box Elder, 19-5, Region 5
3. Uintah (Vernal), 19-7, Region 8
4. Springville, 20-8, Region 8
5. Alta (Sandy), 21-1, Region 7
6. Maple Mountain (Spanish Fork), 15-8, Region 8
7. Bountiful, 17-7, Region 5
8. Wasatch (Heber City), 12-11, Region 8
9. Woods Cross, 15-11, Region 5
10. East (Salt Lake City), 10-9, Region 5

Class 3A
1. Juab (Nephi), 22-1, Region 12
2. Bear River (Garland), 20-3, Region 11
3. Stansbury (Tooele), 18-6, Region 10
4. Tooele, 16-7, Region 10
5. Snow Canyon (St. George), 16-3, Region 9
6. Grantsville, 16-8, Region 10
7. Desert Hills (St. George), 21-8, Region 9
8. Cedar City, 16-9, Region 9
9. Carbon (Price), 16-9, Region 12
10. Union (Roosevelt), 13-15, Region 10

Class 2A
1. Manti, 25-3, 2A Central
2. Enterprise, 25-7, 2A South
3. South Summit (Kamas), 26-7, 2A Central
4. Grand County (Moab), 16-8, 2A East
5. Gunnison Valley (Gunnison), 22-10, 2A East
6. Beaver, 21-10, 2A South
7. South Sevier (Monroe), 17-12, 2A Central
8. Duchesne, 18-5, 2A North
9. San Juan (Blanding), 7-13, 2A East
10. Millard (Fillmore), 8-21, 2A Central

John Coon covers Utah high school sports for MaxPreps. You can contact him at john_coon@hotmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @johncoonsports