Sermon Service & Electric Student-Athlete of the Week – Alli Sutherland and Gracie Longhurst – Mar. 20, 2026

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Gracie Longhurst and Alli Sutherland are two outstanding players on the Bonneville Bees Softball team. The bees have won 3 straight games, and over that time, the pair have put up some serious numbers. In this week's Sermon Service & Electric Student-Athlete of the Week segment, we dive into the numbers.

Sutherland batted .462 and registered an OPS of 1.610. She slugged 2 home runs, 8 RBI, and swiped 4 bags. Longhurst, in her previous two pitching appearances, registered two wins and an ERA of 2.80 over that span. She punched out 21 batters and surrendered just 1 walk in that time. Clearly, these two are very talented.

However, the talent didn't just appear to them by chance one day. Both of them shared with me how much they've worked to get to this point. Gracie gives a lot of credit to her pitching coach.

"My pitching coach, Brendan, is the best pitching coach ever," she said. "He has prepared me so well mentally, physically, like, in all my pitches. I think that he has really been a big stepping stone for me."

For Alli, she shared with me how much she's worked behind the scenes to improve her ability at the plate.

"It's taken a lot of work. I play for USA Explosion, and they have a facility called Idaho Athlete Project, and we're free to go there all the time," said Sutherland. "We can take lessons with coaches that have really good experience, and they've taught me like, the best fundamentals... A lot of it is also mental approach too. I feel like that has helped me get good at bats and everything."

One thing of note about this Bonneville team is the bonds between the players. Bonds that, according to both Alli and Gracie, are thriving.

“we always know how to bounce back together," said Sutherland, "and we're so united like we have team dinner after every game. We have a ton of inside jokes, like [my teammates are] literally like my sisters, and I love them.”

Longhurst harped on the closeness of the players as well.

"We have so much fun," she said, laughing. "It's actually hilarious how many inside jokes we have. I think it's so important to have fun while at practice or else practices are going to be so miserable.”

After this three-game winning streak, the Bees' record improved to 4-3. Congratulations to our Sermon Service & Electric Student-Athletes of the Week, Alli Sutherland and Gracie Longhurst. If you know an athlete who deserves some spotlight, let us know! You can send your submissions to sports@localnews8.com for consideration.