Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — When Savannah Colegrove looks back on her high school career there are many moments that will stand out.

The 2022 Hoopa High graduate was a three-sport star for the Warriors and went out with a bang, winning league titles in volleyball and softball in her senior year, as well as leading the Hoopa girls to a record-setting North Coast Section championship in the latter.

She was also a first-team all-league selection in both volleyball and basketball and a Little 4 MVP in softball, and she closes out her high school career as a rare two-time NCS champ in softball, having also led the Warriors to a championship as a freshman.

And all of that makes Colegrove our 2021/22 Little 4 Girls Athlete of the Year.

While she had a big impact in all three sports, it was on the softball field that the outgoing senior was most at home.

In her own words, Colegrove “had fun playing volleyball” and “played basketball to keep in shape for softball.”

It worked, and by the time the spring rolled around the senior standout was ready to have a huge impact on a history-making Warriors softball team, which won an H-DNL record seventh all-time section crown.

As one of only two seniors on the roster, Colegrove was the undisputed leader of the team and led the way both in the circle and at the plate.

The Warriors played great defense behind her and got better as the season wore on, and they had some big bats to help set the tone on offense.

But more than anything their success was founded on Colegrove’s exceptional pitching and, just as important, her composure and her mental game.

“The team is confident with her in the circle,” her head coach and mother Ryan Colegrove said during the season. “Just the presence she brings to the field. She has a really strong mental game.”

With all her success, the Hoopa standout will have a lot of memories to look back on years form now, but like many of the student-athletes around the H-DNL that’s not necessarily what she’ll remember the most.

“The van rides,” she said when asked about her favorite moments playing for the Warriors. “They were just fun.”

Colegrove will be attending the University of Hawaii in the fall where she will study nursing, and she won’t be continuing her playing career at the collegiate level.

If this past spring was her final season playing softball, she certainly made the most of it.

In her final home game, the Warriors defeated St. Helena 3-1 for the section championship and Colegrove was instrumental in the victory.

Savannah Colegrove (center) along with Hoopa High vice principal Douglas Becksted and coaches Ryan Colegrove, Amber McCovey-Billings and Floyd “Cowboy” Billings.

She struck out 11 on her way to the win in the circle and also broke a late tie with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

As for her biggest influence?

“My mom,” she said.

A big shoutout to our awards sponsors, Mendes Supply Company, Six Rivers Property Management and The Stove Doctors, for their support, as well as to Sports World in Eureka for helping with the plaques.