The Powell 16U girls’ traveling fastpitch softball team recently wrapped up its sophomore season, placing first in the 16U Rec division and second in the 16U Open division at the Wyoming Softball Tournament in Casper.

“Our state tournament went really well,” Roughriders Head Coach Cheryl White said of the July 11-14 event. “We played in tournaments in Casper and Worland earlier this summer and didn’t place in either of them. But we have a really good bunch of girls, and they played outstanding in the state tournament.”

The Roughriders picked up a few players from around the Big Horn Basin for the state tournament, as teams like Greybull didn’t have enough players to field a team that weekend.

“The Greybull team decided that they didn’t have enough girls to go, so we borrowed three girls from their team that went with us,” White said. “And my sister and my nieces drove up from Kansas, and my nieces played with us as well. Without those players, we wouldn’t have been able to go. It was a lot of fun.”

One of those Greybull players was Mallory Brown, used primarily at catcher for the Roughriders. Brown said the tournament was a fantastic experience, and she was grateful for the opportunity.

“We won the rec division, which was really impressive, because we weren’t expected to get that far at all,” she said. “It was way cool. The whole tournament was impressive, almost overwhelming. I hadn’t really played with the Powell team except for a couple of practices, so it was an awesome opportunity and an amazing experience.”

The Roughriders finished 1-1 in pool play, beating the Gillette Blue Jays 7-6 to open the tournament, but falling to the eventual tournament champion Worland Wildfires 21-1.

“After we won our first game, we were pretty hopeful,” said Roughriders’ pitcher Rylee White. “We lost to the teams we knew we’d probably lose to, but we started to beat the teams we’d lost to before, and that gave us hope.”

Powell went 3-2 in bracket play, earning a rematch against Worland in the championship game. Following a 14-2 loss to the Casper Cobras, the Roughriders rattled off three straight wins, including a 17-4 win over 307 Illusion and a 17-11 win over Gillette. In the semifinals, Powell squared off in a rematch against Casper, the team that routed the Roughriders in the opening game of bracket play. The rematch was a different story, with Powell earning a spot in the title game against Worland with a 7-5 win.

“Winning that game was probably the best part, because that clinched the rec championship for us,” Brown said. “We’d lost so badly to that team [Casper] before, so coming back and beating them was awesome.”

“That game kind of blew all of our minds,” said Rylee White, who was on the mound for most of the contest. “My cousin, Treva Williams, came on to pitch against the final batter, and she got the batter out. We were all jumping and screaming at that point.”

The win against Gillette in bracket play sealed first place for the Roughriders in the 16U Rec division, with the team receiving a plaque and championship rings. But against Worland in the 16U Open championship game, the Wildfires won the title 12-0.

This was the second season of competition for the Roughriders, who compete under the USA Softball banner. They are not affiliated with the Powell Recreation District, though the district did help the team get started with equipment during their inaugural season.

“We went to their board meeting [Powell Rec], and they were gracious enough to help us buy equipment, money for uniforms, stuff like that,” coach White said. “We have fundraisers we do every year to raise money to help pay for tournaments. The girls have just done awesome in terms of fundraising.”

The Roughriders were formed by White with the intent of giving her daughter Rylee and other local girls a chance to continue playing fastpitch softball; it’s the coach’s hope that the sport one day becomes a Wyoming High School Athletics Association-sanctioned activity.

“After eighth grade, there’s no more softball for girls here,” coach White said. “So we decided just to start our own team. My daughter [Rylee] is 15, and she loves softball. I wanted her to be able to keep playing. It’s been really fun.”

The idea of making fastpitch softball a sanctioned sport in Wyoming has been kicked around for years, though it seems to be finally inching toward a reality. School boards have already approved the addition of high school softball in Cody, Rock Springs, Campbell County, Thunder Basin and Green River. Support has been thrown behind the sport in several other communities as well, though not yet voted on by their districts; WHSAA bylaws state that eight separate programs are required to sanction a sport. For her part, White thinks the sport is sustainable in Wyoming, and she hopes Powell becomes part of the mix.

“We’re hoping, we have our fingers crossed that we will get the sport in schools so that these girls have a chance to get scholarships,” she said. “We’re from Kansas, and softball is huge down there. Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska — everywhere it’s huge, but here it’s not. We’re trying to get it going.”

Brown and Rylee White said they would definitely like to see it come to fruition, preferably while they can still benefit from it.

“I would love to see that,” Brown said. “In Greybull we wouldn’t have it, but Worland would, so we would be able to play with them. Hopefully soon we’ll get the schools we need to be able to play.”

Rylee agreed, pointing out that, despite the lack of playing options in Wyoming, interest in the sport is high.

“I feel like here is the only place where softball, and even baseball isn’t a high school sport,” she said.

Until that time comes, coach White said she and the other coaches will work diligently to provide local girls with an outlet for softball.

“... It would be nice to start them playing when they’re younger, so by the time they do get up to 16 or 18 years of age, they’ll be awesome,” she said. “But we have to start them young.”

White added that it’s hard to find coaches.

“I was driving my daughter to Billings every Sunday to work with the MSUB [Montana State University-Billings] softball coach, that’s how far we had to travel to get anyone to help us,” she said. “It’s been a long road, a long haul, but we’re getting there, finally.”