AURORA | Two went the short way and one went the long way, but three Aurora area softball teams earned their way into the upcoming Class 5A state tournament.
Playing at an adjacent complex at the Aurora Sports Park to the one that will house the 5A state tournament Oct. 24-25, second-seeded Cherokee Trail and fifth-seeded Eaglecrest won two claims and made it into the state field of 16 teams as regional champions, while 16th-seeded Grandview qualified as the second team from the tournament hosted by top-seeded Broomfield.
The Colorado High School Activities Association will release the brackets and schedule for the tournament Monday.
The 5A state tournament is familiar territory for all three area programs.
Cherokee Trail finished as the 5A runner-up last season to Riverdale Ridge, while Grandview lost a one-run contest in the second round a year ago to Broomfield. Eaglecrest returns to state after missing out last season.
The Region 5 championship went to Eaglecrest in dramatic fashion Friday afternoon, as coach Yvette Hendrian’s team — which rolled to 17-1 win over No. 28 Denver North — found itself down four runs to 12th-seeded Fort Collins late in the regional title game.
A two-run single by freshman Haisley Elliott in the fifth inning and a two-run home run by sophomore Lexi Bargar in the sixth moved the Raptors into a tie and set up the chance for a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh. Junior Abby Files put the ball in play on the infield and junior Lelia Kelliher slid home safely to give Eaglecrest a 7-6 win over the Lambkins, who rebounded to beat Mountain Vista to earn the other Region 5 spot at state.
Next door, Cherokee Trail blanked No. 31 Liberty 10-0 in the Region 2 opener and jumped all over No. 18 Arvada West from the outset in the regional championship game.
Coach Caley Mitchell’s Cougars got RBI base hits in each of the first two innings from both senior Lily Buttshaw and junior Sydney Cobb to give Cobb a five-run cushion on the mound. That was plenty as Cherokee Trail finished off a 9-1 victory.
Grandview won two games against No. 17 Chatfield — sandwiched around a 15-3 loss to top-seeded Broomfield — to make it out of the Region 1 tournament Saturday afternoon at Broomfield High School. Coach Liz Carter’s Wolves opened the day with a two-run win over the Chargers and claimed a one-run victory in the final consolation game to advance.
Find a complete list of 5A regional scores and state qualifiers, here
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
