YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – In virtually anything and everything she did on the field and off this year, Zaylee Gubler was successful.

The senior right-hander helped bat and pitch Yokota to its third straight Far East Division II softball tournament title and fifth overall with a 24-4-1 season record.

Off the field? Yokota senior class valedictorian. One slot behind her at salutatorian was Erica Haas, the Panthers’ No. 2 right-handed pitching ace. Catcher Kayla Bogdan was third.

It was that sort of leadership, Gubler said, that translated well into the Yokota dugout and got her teammates on board not just with the idea of three-peating, but enjoying the sport and the opportunity to play.

“It was my favorite part of high school,” Gubler said Friday during an interview at Yokota’s Kanto Lodge. “I want every one of them (Panthers players) to love (softball) just as much as I do and to try their best, no matter what happens.”

Gubler, Stars and Stripes’ Pacific softball Athlete of the Year, barely nosed out her teammate Haas. Far East Division I tournament Most Valuable Player Jada Wolfgang of Kadena and two-time D-I Best Pitcher Julia Petruff, also of Kadena, were also in the running.

Gubler’s Yokota team was arguably the best hitting team in the Far East D-II tournament era, in its 14th year.

The Panthers hit .565 as a team – no other D-II team came within 80 points this season – with a 1.540 OPS. They had 127 extra-base hits, 28 home runs, 288 RBIs, 137 walks to 101 strikeouts and a remarkable 478 stolen bases. They were only caught stealing 21 times.

“We didn’t have anybody new to the game,” even the Panthers’ freshmen, Gubler said. “So we could just get into the mechanics and make ourselves better.”

Gubler batted .544 with a phenomenal 1.902 OPS. She had 19 extra-base hits, 10 homers, 42 RBIs, 24 walks to 11 strikeouts and stole 53 bases, only being caught twice.

Gubler spent much of last summer playing club and travel ball in her home state of Utah and gained some tips from a pitching coach there.

Back at Yokota, the batters worked on hitting with the Panthers’ batting coach, Whitney Smith – Yokota slugger Claire Smith’s mother.

“When they saw her hitting, we would all strive to be better,” Gubler said.

Beyond the numbers, Gubler said she tried to introduce her teammates to the idea that the glass is always at least half-full.

“Celebrating every at-bat, whether a hit, a walk, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice fly, capitalize on everything,” Gubler said. “I just tried to tell the team, everything in the game matters, in helping us to win.”

Even if a batter strikes out, Gubler said, the batter might learn something about the opposing pitcher’s repertoire. A sharp grounder hitting a fielder’s leg or arm; at least they kept the ball in the infield, instead of it rolling deep into the outfield.

“Stay positive,” Gubler said. “Whether we’re up by five runs, or down by three, just stay positive the whole game.”

Yokota did take some hard knocks against Division I foes Kadena and Kubasaki, losing twice to the Dragons and once to the Panthers and tying Kadena in another game. Their only other loss was to E.J. King.

Two of those encounters with Okinawa D-I teams came very early in the season, which benefited Yokota, Gubler said.

“Seeing teams at the next level showed it wasn’t going to be easy, but if we worked hard and tried our best, we could win,” she said. “It showed us where our weaknesses were and what we needed to work on.”

That carried all the way through a season in which the Panthers scored 10 or more runs in 21 of 29 games, and 20 or more in five.

If there’s one thing Gubler says she hopes people will remember about her, it’s that she gave 100 percent every time she suited up.

“The heart and the effort I put into the game,” she said. “I put everything out there.”

Age: 17

Place of birth: Orem, Utah

Other sport: Wrestling

Favorite subjects: English, history

Least favorite subject: None; “I like all my subjects.”

Favorite athlete: NiJaree Canady, Kathryn Sandercock, college softball players.

Favorite forms of entertainment: Watching sports on TV.

Favorite entertainer: Taylor Swift.