There was plenty of sunshine at the Park City High softball field Friday afternoon. However, it was far from all rainbows for the Miners squad, who fell 18-0 to regional foe Stansbury in their home opener.

Plenty of fans had packed the surrounding areas of the field, having long-awaited a glimpse of their squad at home. Until Friday, the Miners softball and baseball squads had yet to play at home due to another above-average snow season. The baseball squad still is awaiting their home opener, which athletic director Jamie Sheetz said they hope to get in Wednesday against Hillcrest.

That baseball game against Hillcrest would kick off at 3:30 p.m. on the Park City baseball diamond.

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The home fans had much to cheer for early on, with the team holding off the 7-4 Stallions for the first two innings. Stansbury only scored one run in that first inning. The bats got going for the Stallions in the third, however, opening the floodgates in the blowout win.

Stansbury scored eight and nine runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively, with the game being called via mercy rule after the fourth.

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The bats for the Miners never followed suit, with the team only having 2 hits to their opponent’s 13. Those hits came from centerfielder Sami Schofield and third baseman Olivia Johnson.

Miners first-year head coach Ashley Manusos and Johnson remained optimistic following their home-opening defeat. The team was grateful to not have to load up the buses and travel for this game, which they had planned to play at South Summit High as late as Friday morning. They landed their first win this season (1-6) Thursday, defeating another regional foe, Jordan 12-2.

“We’ve improved immensely from the start of the season. Score doesn’t show that, but the people that spend every day around them, they can see that for sure,” Manusos said.

Manusos would like to see her girls continue keeping their focus on the process of games and not the final scores. In practice, they’ve created an imaginary opponent “Sally,” who they pretend to play to help themselves focusing on their games and not their future opponents. Manusos said she believed she and the team’s first win Thursday helped boost their confidence and validate their hard work.

“I think the playoffs are stretch,” Manusos said. “Our short-term goals are just putting runs on board each inning. Long-term goal would be to continue to win games. In the foreseeable future, I could see that we would be competitive.”

The Miners have five remaining games this regular season, all of which will be at Park City High. Manusos and Johnson agreed the home support was incredible. The team played just one home game last season amid a record snow season, finishing 6-10.

“It was awesome to be on our home field,” said Johnson. “Hoping to get a lot more this year, and keep playing with family and friends watching.”

The Miners will go on spring break next week, before next taking the field April 22 against Timpview. The team would likely have to win a lion’s share of their remaining games to make the playoffs. Star players Schofield, Olivia Tabaracci, Madison Brent and Johnson will be crucial to a potential run down the stretch.

Schofield, Tabaracci and Brent are each batting .750, .500 and .375 this season, respectively. Johnson has the third-best fielding percentage on the team at .571.

The playoff bracket will be revealed May 1, with regional action beginning at home sites May 3.