A key hit or break here or there and two Aurora area softball programs might have met each other for the first time with a state championship at stake.
On adjacent fields at the Aurora Sports Park on the final day of the season, second-seeded Cherokee Trail and fifth-seeded Eaglecrest each were locked in 4-4 ballgames late in Class 5A semifinals Oct. 25 and might have created the first all-Aurora area final in history.
Instead, the Cougars and Raptors — who faced each other in the Centennial League championship game towards the end of the regular season — both came up short in losses to No. 6 Legend and No. 1 Broomfield, respectively. With both coming up short, that extends the area’s championship drought to nine seasons dating back to Cherokee Trail’s 2016 win.
Coach Caley Mitchell’s Cougars firmly believed they could return to the 5A state final for a second straight season and were focused on a potential meeting with Broomfield as the teams had occupied the top two spots in the state rankings.
Juniors Sydney Cobb and Emma Rice pitched lights out on the opening day of the tournament and Cherokee Trail cruised past No. 15 Chaparral (4-1) and No. 12 Fort Collins (10-0) to reach a semifinal against Legend, which had dealt the Cougars a 10-run loss earlier in the season.
The teams combined for seven runs in the opening inning (four for the Titans, three for the Cougars) and the game was tied going to the seventh inning after Cobb’s sacrifice fly brought in junior Tayah Burton with the tying run.
The game unraveled in the top of the seventh, however, as Legend used a combination of bunts, errors and well-placed hits to score four times. Cherokee Trail could not respond in its final at-bat and finished the season 22-5 with a hunger stoked for next season as it will have to replace a small, but strong group of seniors in Izzy Becker, Lily Buttshaw, Kate Kenney, Abby Anderson and Caitlin Thurman.
Senior-loaded Broomfield also nearly didn’t make it to the championship game itself and that’s because of the performance of coach Yvette Hendrian’s Eaglecrest team, which played its best softball of the season when it mattered most.
Senior pitcher Zaya Elliott had two strong outings on the opening day of the tournament — a 10-0 win over No. 12 Valor Christian and 4-1 victory over No. 4 Erie — but she and her teammates were special in the semifinals against the highly-favored Eagles.
The Raptors (22-6) loaded the bases in the opening inning, but could not push a run across and watched Broomfield put four runs on the board in the third inning. But Elliott steadied and threw five consecutive scoreless frames as her team got back into the contest.
Impact freshman Haisley Elliott, juniors Lelia Kelliher and Ryleigh Stufft and sophomore Lexi Bargar drove in runs, while sophomore Giana Vialpando Williams scored two as Eaglecrest tied the score in the fifth. The teams battled all the way until ninth inning, when the Eagles capitalized on a defensive miscommunication and won 5-4 on a walk-off sacrifice fly.
Eaglecrest’s performance against Broomfield looked even better as the Eagles piled up 17 runs in a five-inning win over Legend in the state championship game.
Grandview made the state tournament for a fourth straight season, but was unable to get past the opening round this time. Coach Liz Carter’s Wolves had the No. 14 seed and that pitted them against a tough Columbine team that was seeded No. 3. The Rebels’ bats were hot from the very start — they scored five runs in the opening inning — and never let up in a 12-2 five-inning victory.
Senior shortstop Sasha Kennedy ended her outstanding prep career with a bang, as she finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and triple, while she scored one of Grandview’s runs and drove in Braelyn Blakeman with the other.
The Wolves finished the season 16-11.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
