By Brian Shaw | [email protected]

In the 2021 season, score lines of 16-4 and 24-8 have become the norm in a year that is about as abnormal as can be. 

It's as if Cottonwood is playing football instead of softball. That poor scoreboard operator has to be getting exhausted changing the numbers every five seconds. 

The increased run production comes from a combination of factors. First, this season is the last for Faith Godina, a senior who was on that 12-11 squad in 2018-19 that advanced three games in the one-loss bracket at the 5A state championships and she contributed greatly to that effort, hitting four home runs for the Colts that year. 

This year, Godina has picked up right where she left off two years ago. The senior slugger who wears the No. 45 in 2021 has been playing like a female version of Cecil Fielder who famously wore that number decades ago. 

Godina is on her 2019 pace and then some for Cottonwood, jacking two home runs and a whopping 19 RBI --in just 12 games. An example of her power can be seen in this Instagram video. 

At 7-5 overall (4-3 in region play), Cottonwood is unquestionably led by Godina, who is averaging slightly fewer than two runs per game for her team. 

But Godina isn’t the only factor for the Colts. They are also led by senior Makenna Wolfe, who’s also hit two homers for a squad that has smashed Highland and Olympus, its last two opponents, to the unconscionable tune of 18-0 and 19-0. 

With seven games remaining at the time this story went to print, Cottonwood softball is ranked No. 21 in the UHSAA 5A State Rankings that determine seeding for the upcoming state tournament in May.