There is a lot more to the defending 1A state champion Notus High School softball program than what meets the eye. 

Knowing that the target is on their back after winning it all last year, these girls refuse to be outworked. 

“After we won the state championship last year and we finished bringing the trophy to the elementary school and showing all the kids what our girls accomplished, the girls wanted no time off. They wanted to get out and get to work,” head coach Sam Crockett said. “That’s part of what makes my life so easy as a coach, is that these girls don’t need to be told what to do, they just go out and they do it without being asked.”

There are plenty of similarities between the 2019 Pirates (19-3 as of May 7) and the 2018 championship group, with continuity across almost the entire roster. In the first 22 games of the season, the team has averaged a staggering 14.2 runs per contest, while also holding opponents to 3.9 runs per game. 

Behind the arm of standout pitcher Megan Hostetler, who recently signed to play at nearby Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, and one of her best friends, senior catcher Brooke Osmus, the Notus Pirates have put everyone in 1A softball on notice. 

But it’s not just 1A teams that have fallen victim to the talent and cohesiveness of Notus this season. 

“In our ten games that we played outside of 1A, we went 7-3 against 2A, 3A and 4A teams in Idaho and Oregon,” Crockett said. “We aren’t scared. If there is one thing that I want people to know about us, it is that we can play. Just because we are a 1A school, doesn’t mean that we can’t go and compete, and it doesn’t mean that we can’t go out and win those games.”

The group simply has no fear.

With good reason, Crockett has a lot of faith in his softball team. He headed the group that went 23-3 last year in route to the school’s first state title of any kind in over 50 years, and now, brings back all but one player off of that jam-packed roster for this playoff run. The 56 years between titles dated back to when the school won the state track championship in 1962. 

Some of the schools Notus has won against in non-conference play this year include McCall-Donnelly, Baker, Vale, Nyssa and Parma. 

The Pirates have also gone undefeated in league play in the 1A Western Idaho Conference, finishing out the regular season 12-0 against conference opponents. 

Having the pairing of a pitcher and catcher that have been together for years has been a key factor in that success. 

“Megan Hostetler and Brooke Osmus were in my ear in December and January, asking to get the gear out and go throw in the little gym. That right there is where championships are won. Most casual fans think that games and championships are won during practice, or even during games, but that’s where it’s won, when you have that desire to get into the gym and get to work months before the season even starts,” said Crockett.

Last season Hostetler boasted a record of 20-2, striking out 240 batters in just over 116 innings. She ended the year with a miniscule ERA of 1.14. 

Hostetler boasts one of the best arms in the state of Idaho, 1A through 5A, and it’s not even a question anymore, it’s simply a fact. The Treasure Valley commit leads her team on and off the field, and according to her coach, TVCC is likely just the beginning of her career.

“Even for someone like her, and all of the speed and control that she has, I still feel like she is underlooked just because she goes to a small school. I think she has the potential to play at a big school, and that TVCC will just make her work even harder to get to where she knows she can be,” added Crockett. 

In the meantime, Notus has some unfinished business to attend to this season.

“We want to play in the championship game again. We know that we are capable of it, and as long as we play our game and play how we know how to, I think we will be playing for that trophy. And as for next year, we lose some key girls, but I think we are playing for a trophy next year as well,” said Crockett. 

Notus will first take part in the 1A District 3 tournament on May 10-11 at Quad Park in Caldwell. The 1A state tournament will be hosted by Genesee High School on May 17-18.