AURORA | What began as the worst case scenario for the Cherokee Trail softball team ended up with the best final result Oct. 15 at the Aurora Sports Park.
The Cougars faced a nine-run deficit against Fruita Monument in the opening inning of their Class 5A Region 5 opener and found themselves down 11 runs just a few innings later in a situation they had very rarely experienced during the regular season.
But true to the team’s motto for the season — Undivided — Cherokee Trail banded together and fought back. All the way back.
Coach Caley Mitchell’s 14th-seeded Cougars rallied against No. 19 Fruita Monument and won an 18-16 walk-off on a home run by senior Haylie Wenke, then rode the momentum offensively and a clutch pitching performance from junior Cayman Lightner to an 11-8 victory over host and third-seeded Valor Christian to gain entry into the 5A state tournament.
“We’re losing 9-0, then go down 14-3 and we just clawed our way back,” Mitchell said. “We just didn’t give up. We got an emotional high from that and then I was worried we would crash a little bit in the next game, but we just didn’t.”
Wenke had hit just one home run in her career previously, but she came with the clinching bomb to cap a marathon comeback in a game that saw five Cougars drive in three or more runs. Junior Sade Davis picked up the win in relief as she pitched the final 6 1/3 innings.
Wenke homered again early in the top of the second inning — which would be followed one batter later by another solo shot from junior Chiara Pryor, who had been robbed of a leadoff homer — to get Cherokee Trail off to a strong start against a Valor Christian team it lost to 4-0 in its first game of the season.
Junior Addi Krei had four hits and junior Jocelyn Steiner (who homered and drove in three runs in the first game) and sophomore Kennedy Brian (who had four hits and four RBI in the opening game) had big two-run base hits as the Cougars kept the offensive going.
“I think that’s the best we’ve hit all season,” Wenke said.
That support took some pressure off Lightner, who had to come into the first game and got hit in the finger with a ball on her glove hand.
“I wasn’t worried because of how we were barreling the ball up all day long,” Lightner said.
She battled the entire way through the game against the Eagles — and threw out a runner at home plate to help blunt a fourth-inning rally — and finished it off by allowing just one run in the final two innings to keep the lead.
“I’m so proud,” Lightner said. “I didn’t think we would be regional champions after the way that first game started, but it was insane to watch us come all the way back. Once we got to the next game, we wanted to show that maybe we were the underdog, but that the underdog can be something special.
“Making state has been every single persons’ goal since we showed up for the first day of camp this year. Now that we’re here, it feels so good.”
The cherry on top of the day came at the end when the team learned that the victory over Valor Christian was the 200th in the coaching career of Mitchell, who has coached for just over a decade and led Cherokee Trail to the 5A state championship in 2016 and also to the finals in 2018 and 2020.
In celebration, she had a bag of ice dumped on her and also a bottle of water poured on her as she addressed the team.
Cherokee Trail joins Grandview, which won the Region 6 tournament at Metzler Ranch Community Park on Friday, as Aurora’s representation in the Oct. 21-22 5A state tournament at the Aurora Sports Park.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2022 CLASS 5A REGION 5 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Oct. 15 at Aurora Sports Park
Cherokee Trail 18, Fruita Monument 16
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Fruita Monument 950 002 0 — 16 17 4
Cherokee Trail 300 427 2 — 18 15 3
WP — Cherokee Trail: Sade Davis (6 1/3 IP, 13 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 5 K). Cherokee Trail hitting: Kennedy Brian 4-5, 2B, 4 RBI, run; Sade Davis 3-3, 2B; Julia Russell 2-5, 3 RBI, run; Addi Krei 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, run; Chiara Pryor 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI, 4 runs; Hailey Wenke 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, run; Jocelyn Steiner 1-5, HR, 3 RBI, 3 runs; Alexis Zubowicz 4 runs
Cherokee Trail 11, Valor Christian 8
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Cherokee Trail 121 430 0 — 11 14 2
Valor Christian 010 240 1 — 8 10 4
WP — Cherokee Trail: Cayman Lightner (7 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K). Cherokee Trail hitting: Addi Krei 4-5, 2 2B, 3 runs; Kennedy Brian 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Chiara Pryor 2-4, HR, RBI, 3 runs; Kylie Twilt 2-4, RBI; Haylie Wenke 1-4, HR, RBI, run; Sade Davis and Julia Russell RBI
