It seemed too easy at the beginning of the season to pick the three softball champions from last season to repeat. That happened Saturday at Aurora Sports Park, but it was anything but easy for two of them.
Photo by Patrick Miller
Shelby Babcock, Legacy
Legacy needed eight innings to squeak by Ralston Valley 1-0 for the 5A crown – Legacy’s third in succession – and Wheat Ridge was one out away from a loss to D’Evelyn before rallying for five runs and a 5-1 win for the Farmers’ second consecutive 4A title.
Erie, in its final season in 3A, had a much easier time, blanking Burlington 8-0 in the final. Erie departs the classification having appeared in all 12 title games – with 10 wins – since 3A was formed in 1998. The Tigers will play in 4A next season.
Now, some odds and ends from the state tournament for each classification:
Class 5A tournament
The only large-scale upset occurred in this classification, with 12th-seeded Cherry Creek working its way to the final four with upsets against No. 5 Green Mountain and No. 4 Eaglecrest. In the latter, pitcher Alyse Harris threw a no-hitter and struck out eight against the Raptors.
"I don’t think many anticipated this," Harris said afterward. "I don’t think we anticipated it."
The dream was short-lived for the Bruins, who were pounded 16-1 by Legacy in the semifinals. Ralston Valley had a much more difficult time making it to the championship, as the Mustangs trailed Grand Junction Central 4-3 with two outs in the seventh.
Jackie Sanzolone delivered a tying RBI single before Lauren Biddle won it a batter later with a walk-off RBI single. (Interestingly, Biddle is the daughter of Pomona coach Jim Biddle. The younger Biddle’s squad ousted Pomona and dad in the semifinals.)
Drama seemed to follow Grand Junction Central everywhere it went in the tournament, as the Warriors needed 12 innings to get past Brighton 7-5 in the quarterfinals. Warriors sophomore catcher Brittany Hoppe clubbed a two-run homer in the top of the 12th to make the difference.
"I was at the plate and looked right into the sun, so my vision was off for a few seconds," Hoppe said. "Then when I hit, I was surprised it was going that far."
The championship game itself lived up to its billing, although it was a bit of a downer that the only run scored came by virtue of an error in the eighth. That mattered little to Kaitlyn Mattila, who scored the winning run for the Lightning, and Shelby Babcock, who pitched her team to the third straight title.
"I’m glad we faced them because they’re the best team we’re going to see and we wanted to beat the best," Babcock said.
While Babcock and Mattila grabbed many of the headlines, Melissa Marcovecchio and Rainey Gaffin each had a strong showing in the tournament, with each hitting a home run in an earlier round.
Class 4A tournament
Wheat Ridge’s Gianna Duncan and Stephanie Routzon were surrounded by reporters after the win against D’Evelyn, and rightfully so. Duncan produced the go-ahead RBI double off the glove of D’Evelyn center fielder Mary Helfer, and Routzon pitched her team to 24 consecutive wins after an opening loss to 5A Arvada West.
But the strongest performance in the tournament went to Amanda Arias-Young, who went 9-for-15 with three home runs and eight RBI for the Farmers in four games. And, in an odd twist, the 5-1 win was the identical score by which Wheat Ridge topped D’Evelyn in the regular season.
Perhaps the next-most dramatic ending occurred in the quarterfinals, when Mullen eked by Niwot on an RBI fielder’s choice by Gia Marquez. It narrowly scored Brandi Hawkins from third after Hawkins reached on an error, was sacrificed to second and went to third on a passed ball.
"When I hit home, I had never been that excited in my entire life," Hawkins said afterward. "I’m so pumped that I could play all of tomorrow’s games right now."
The Mustangs, though, lost to Wheat Ridge 8-0 in the semifinals, while D’Evelyn sneaked past Windsor 3-2 to set up the all-Jefferson County League final.
Class 3A tournament
While Erie naturally was the prominent story here, the biggest surprise in the bracket was Faith Christian upsetting Holy Family in the quarterfinals. The Eagles won 1-0 on an RBI single by Myndee Thompson in the bottom of the seventh, overthrowing Holy Family’s streak of four consecutive championship-game appearances.
"It just means the world," Faith Christian pitcher Taylor Johnson said after the game. "Now we get the chance to go on. I’m so excited."
The Eagles went on to lose 5-3 to Erie and had to settle for being the only team to challenge the Tigers in the tournament. Burlington earned its ticket to the title game by outlasting Valley 9-8.