In baseball, every inning tells a story. But in late April, the Hillcrest High Huskies weren’t swinging bats—they were turning pages, sharing stories and learning that heroes aren’t just made on the field.

“It was a really cool thing we did when we went to the elementary school in our community and read to kindergartners and first graders,” head coach Trevor Thornton said. “I really want our team to give service to our community and help these kids, make it more than baseball.”

He hopes this becomes an annual tradition and the team can expand its outreach next year by giving back to the community in other ways as well.

Now in his second year as head coach, Thornton is focused not only on helping his players improve on the field, but also on shaping the culture and future of
the program.

“As far as making the playoffs, we didn’t achieve our goal where we wanted to be, but as far as development of the program, we are going in a positive direction,” he said. 

This season, the Huskies had a mix of experience and youth, with seven seniors on the roster alongside two juniors, one sophomore and several freshmen, who stepped into key roles.

“We put some freshmen in those positions because we felt like long term, it’ll help our program and it’s cool we’re
getting student-athletes who are good enough as freshmen to play at this level and now they are continuing to progress,” he said.

Looking to the future, Thornton is launching a summer development program that includes incoming eighth graders. The goal is to get future Hillcrest players experience and exposure before they reach high school.

“We’re going to have a program, which will include incoming eighth graders; our goal is to have them start playing baseball this summer with us. We’re going to invite eighth graders to come participate in our summer games and see where they’re at and try and develop them before spring season,” he said.

The summer schedule, still being finalized, will include games against teams from around Salt Lake and Utah county.

“Our goal is to get our kids between 10 to 14 games this summer, just get them playing, getting more reps, continuing their development,” Thornton said.

To further build the program, he also plans to host a skills camp for fifth- through eighth-grade players in late January or early February. Current team members will help mentor younger players during the camp.

The goal, Thornton said, is to build not just talent, but a strong start for the 2026 season.

This year started strong for the Huskies, with early promise shown during a preseason trip to Hurricane, where they played tough competition from out
of state.

“At the beginning of the year, we had players who were playing a step above where we thought they would, which was super awesome to see. We went to Hurricane and met up with Centennial, a good school out of Boise. We were in the game right into the seventh inning, it was 4 to 4; we ended up losing it 6 to 4. We were good early in the year and put up a couple wins,” he said.

But injuries soon took a toll.

“We had an injury plague and lost a couple kids for the season, including our starting center fielder,” Thornton said. “That was hard because he is one of those kids who ignites the whole team, so it kind of deflated some things.”

Still, Thornton saw encouraging signs as players stepped up and competition within the team pushed everyone
to improve.

“As the year was progressing, there was a lot of competition on the team, which helps our older kids stay motivated and helps our younger kids battle. It helps the culture inside the program,” he said. “Some of those players were able to step into those roles and progress, even though we’re not winning all these games.”

Thornton was especially proud of the mindset among the younger players.

“One of the big things I appreciate about our younger kids is they have the mentality of, ‘I am here to get better, but it’s not just me. It’s not about me, it’s about the team, and what can I do to help everybody around me be better,’” he said.

Thornton also credits the senior class for their leadership and mentorship.

“Our seniors are helping our young kids get better. They are wanting to help those younger players get better because they know they’ll take their spots. The mentality is ‘We have one group, and we all get better, it helps grow the program,’” Thornton said. “At the same time, seniors ask, ‘What am I going to do after baseball is over?’ We’re helping develop this leadership mentality to become a better person post high school.”

While no seniors from the 2025 class have committed to playing at the next level yet, two recent graduates from 2024 are continuing their baseball careers—Matt Miller at the College of Idaho and Cooper Limb at Colorado Northwestern Community College.

Looking ahead, Hillcrest will be moving up to 5A from 4A region 10.

“We’re looking forward to playing next year in a new region,” Thornton said. “It’s new faces, new opportunities to challenge ourselves to become better and see how good we are—that’s our goal.” λ