Three Uintah Ute softball players can now say they are national champions.

Maddy Schulz, Taylor Craven and Chanel Pace recently took part in the ASA 18-under-A Western Nationals in Oakland, California as part of the Utah Pegasus softball team.

The Pegasus, from Salt Lake City, won the championship which was held Aug. 4-8. The tournament featured 32 teams from across the Western United States.

Players on the Pegasus organization are members of one of two teams, the Utah Pegasus Gold which consists of current college players and high school graduates who have already signed National Letters of Intent to play college softball, and the Utah Pegasus consisting of high school players going into their senior year, who aspire to be college softball players.

The three Ute players competed in the tournament and are all seniors this year.

The Utah Pegasus won eight games in a row to win this years tournament and the girls also won the semifinal game 3-2 over their counterparts, the Utah Pegasus Gold. The Gold team won the tournament two years ago.

The younger Utah Pegasus had lost to the Pegasus Gold three times already this year and had never beaten them. It looked like the same thing was going to happen when the Pegasus Gold held and a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Utah Pegasus was not going to be denied, however.

Craven led off the inning with a double that brought lead hitter Schulz to the plate. Shulz then delivered a double herself, scoring Craven. Courtney Law, from Box Elder County, singled to score Schulz on a close play at the plate. That tied the score at 2-2. Jess Uresti, from Payson, then singled to send Law in for the game winner.

The Gold team went on to lose to the Las Vegas Rage, another team loaded with college players 3-2.

In the championship game the Utah Pegasus quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back. The Rage managed three runs, but that was not nearly enough. In the end, a final score of 7-3 in favor of the girls from Utah made the Pegasus team national champions.

The girls from Uintah have been playing for the Utah Pegasus for the past three summers and have traveled to several different states competing in high profile tournaments. This summer the girls have been to California twice, Portland, Oregon, and Las Vegas, Nevada.

All three girls say they plan to play college softball, with Schulz already verbally committing to Utah Valley University. Craven and Pace are still undecided.

The team received a trophy, banner and plaques. The team now qualifies for the ASA 18-Under Nationals in Illinois next summer.