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(LEAD) Sky View High's Takesha Saltern poses for a portrait at the Valley Regional Softball Complex in Taylorsville on Tuesday, May 31, 2016. Saltern earned the Standard-Examiner's All-Area MVP for 2016.

BRIANA SCROGGINS/Standard-Examiner

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(Secondary) Sky View High's Takesha Saltern poses for a portrait at the Valley Regional Softball Complex in Taylorsville on Tuesday, May 31, 2016. Saltern earned the Standard-Examiner's All-Area MVP for 2016.

BRIANA SCROGGINS/Standard-Examiner

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Sky View High's Takesha Saltern poses for a portrait at the Valley Regional Softball Complex in Taylorsville on Tuesday, May 31, 2016. Saltern earned the Standard-Examiner's All-Area MVP for 2016.

BRIANA SCROGGINS/Standard-Examiner

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SMITHFIELD — Takesha Saltern was just a couple days removed from suffering a badly sprained ankle when she stood at home plate during a practice late in the softball season and hit line drive after line drive.

If that isn’t impressive enough, the Sky View High softball star clubbed a grand slam against Mountain Crest in her first game back from the injury a few days later despite not being fully recovered.

“I sort of hobbled my way around the bases … I was rounding third base and I started to walk for a bit,” Saltern said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this hurts,’ and then I jogged the rest of the way.'”

Saltern belted another grand slam in the 5-A playoffs against Syracuse — a shot so impressive it compelled Titans coach Kelly Anderson to walk her intentionally her next three at-bats.

Saltern finished the season with a batting average of .667 while also totaling six homers, seven doubles, two triples and 23 RBIs.

Sprained ankle and all, Saltern is this year’s Standard-Examiner All-Area Softball Team’s Most Valuable Player.

Shockingly, the Weber State University signee doesn’t even consider herself a home run hitter.

“I’m more of a slapper, but I’ve been trying to work on my power hitting more because you need to have more than bunting and slapping,” Saltern said. “When the bases are loaded you need to have some power in you, so I’ve been working on that.”

Saltern didn’t have to wait very long to see the fruits of her hard work.

After hitting just one home run (that left the park) in her first three years at Sky View, Saltern hit three on one day during the early-season March Warm-Up in St. George this year.

“(One) was on a change-up, too,” Sky View coach Shane Jones recalled. “You saw her start her swing, stop and explode on the ball.”

Story continues below photo.

BRIANA SCROGGINS/Standard-Examiner

Saltern had never hit fourth or sixth in the lineup like she did after she sprained her ankle, but she continued to hit as if she had been doing it her whole life.

“I didn’t really change my mentality,” Saltern said. “I just focused and just wanted to move the runners when there were runners on.”

Jones has seen Saltern grow each year of high school since her freshman year, but even he admitted to being taken by surprise by what she did this year.

“I never thought she’d have the power she has,” Jones said.

Saltern’s older sister and Sky View assistant coach Shakiah Saltern said she got emotional after the grand slam against Mountain Crest because she thought Jones was going to bring in a pinch hitter given the ankle injury.

“I started crying on first base,” Shakiah Saltern said.

Shakiah Saltern raves about how far her sister has come since her freshman year when she was so small, she was given the nickname “Bug.”

“Her freshman and sophomore year, I don’t think there’s any chance of her hitting it to the fence. That’s how small she was,” Shakiah Saltern said.

Hitting to the fence is hardly a problem now.

Contact Standard-Examiner sports reporter Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @RyanComerSe and on Facebook.