Former Emery High School standout softball player Ashton Bell will transfer from Colorado Northwestern Community College to play her final junior college season at Utah State University Eastern.

Head coach Brittani Richins announced Tuesday afternoon that Bell had signed the required paperwork to make her transfer to the school complete. The transfer means Bell will be the first player from Emery or Carbon High School to sign with USU-Eastern.

“We want to bring fans to the stands and someone like Ashton will definitely do that,” said Richins. “It makes it nice to add junior college experience. Our biggest concern was recruiting for pitching and she’ll help out.”

During her senior season at Emery, Bell set the Utah state record for home runs in a season with 19, shattering the old record of 15. Adding to the list of accomplishments, Bell tied the state record for grand slams in a game with two.

After leading the Lady Spartans in nearly every statistical category, Bell signed with Colorado Northwestern where she appeared in 22 games her freshman season. In just 17 at bats Bell hit one home run, recorded three RBI and two walks. From the mound she accumulated a record of 1-3 in five starts, while holding opponents to a team low .325 batting average.

Bell will join an experienced pitching staff at USU-Eastern that will feature five pitchers with previous junior college experience. The Eagles currently have 11 players signed to the roster for the inaugural season, and will look to add four to seven more in the coming weeks.