LOGAN — Their path took the long way around, but a pair of former local high school softball stars, infielder Kenzee Hale and outfielder Olivia Marble, have made their way back home, signing as transfers with Utah State. Both were stars at their respective high schools, each winning a 4A state title and earning All-State honors.
Hale made her name at Ridgeline, being named All-Valley Softball Player of the Year along with her All-State recognition in 2021 and in 2022 led the Riverhawks to their first-ever softball title as a school.
Marble, formerly Olivia Taylor, prepped at Bear River and in her senior season in 2021 earned All-Region and All-State along with being named the state tournament MVP. Marble went viral during the tournament for a home run-denying catch she made in the 4A state championship game, leaping backward over the outfield fence to snag the ball out of the air on the fly.
CATCH OF THE YEAR!!! Watch Bear River Center Fielder Olivia Taylor going airborne, clearing the fence to make this catch in the @UHSAAinfo State Championship game. @KSLSports l @BRHSinfo l @BearRiverCoach pic.twitter.com/9aw1f1Fhu5
— Sam Farnsworth (@Samsworth_TV) May 22, 2021
The play ended up being featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10, ranking No. 2 only behind a historic feat from Simone Biles in the U.S. Classic that same week.
Both players went on to play for the College of Southern Idaho, though they were never teammates. Marble only spent her freshman season of 2022 (while Hale was still a senior at Ridgeline) with the Eagles before transferring to Abilene Christian where she spent the next two seasons. In her most recent campaign, her junior season in 2024, Marble earned Second Team All-WAC honors with a .377 batting average and a team-best 17 stolen bases. Across both her seasons with the Wildcats, amounting to 98 games (all starts), she accumulated 99 hits, 47 RBIs and eight home runs. She also recorded a perfect fielding percentage with 167 put-outs and zero errors.
“One of the things we’re really trying to do this offseason is to get more athletic in our outfield, and Olivia brings exactly that. She had just a single error in two years with over 200 attempts so we feel she can bring us a boost in that area,” said USU softball head coach Todd Judge. “She had 17 stolen bases last year, and she’s also a very efficient hitter. Olivia is exactly the type of player we’re trying to build our program on.”
Hale has spent both of her collegiate seasons at CSI, aiding the team through back-to-back appearances in the national tournament and also a conference championship in 2023. She started all but one of her 124 appearances, tallying 124 hits, 100 RBIs and 24 home runs. Arguably her biggest potential skill the Aggies could use, though, is her baserunning. Hale accumulated 56 stolen bases in two years, including a CSI program single-season record of 44 this past season.
“The main reason we’re excited about bringing Kenzee on is that we need to get more athletic and we need to get faster. She had over 40 stolen bases last year at College of Southern Idaho, and that’s a big area of focus for us,” Judge said.