HIGHLANDS RANCH | The Cherokee Trail softball team earned its fourth straight trip — and sixth in the past decade — to the Class 5A state tournament with its second victory over Legacy in as many days at ThunderRidge High School.
The Cougars earned their way into the final 16 teams that will play at the Aurora Sports Park Oct. 20-21 with a 14-6 victory over the Lightning in the Region 7 consolation championship game Saturday afternoon, which came after coach Caley Mitchell’s team went 1-1 on the opening day of the tournament.
Freshman Sydney Cobb threw five scoreless innings of relief against Legacy — which scored six times in the first two innings — while the well-oiled Cherokee Trail offense scored in each of the first five innings en route to the qualifying victory.
Senior Addi Krei had four hits and juniors Kennedy Brian and Kylie Twilt had three hits and combined for five RBI as the Cougars scored in double figures for the 11th time in their last 13 games. Cherokee Trail had a chance to end the game early, but left two on base in the bottom of the fifth and the bases loaded in the sixth.
Cobb closed it out in the seventh as she worked around a one-out double.
Cherokee Trail defeated Legacy 12-2 the previous day (with the win going to another freshman, Emma Rice), then fell to host and seventh-seeded ThunderRidge 8-2 in the regional championship with the first state berth at stake.
In three combined games, senior Kiki Pryor went 6-for-10 with four RBI for Cherokee Trail, while Twilt piled up seven runs driven in (including four in the first win over Legacy) and seniors Krei and Jocelyn Steiner had five hits between the three contests.
The Cougars are one of three Aurora-area programs in the 5A state tournament, as they join Eaglecrest (the Region 1 champion) and Grandview, which got in via the consolation bracket at Region 8.
Seeding for the 5A state tournament is due out Monday.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
Class 5A Region 7 (at ThunderRidge H.S.)
Consolation 2nd round: Cherokee Trail 14, Legacy 6
Score by innings:
Legacy 330 000 0 — 6
Cher. Trail 351 230 x — 14
WP — Cherokee Trail: Sydney Cobb (5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K). Cherokee Trail hitting: Addi Krei 4-6, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 runs; Kennedy Brian 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 runs; Kylie Twilt 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 runs; Jocelyn Steiner 2-3, RBI, run; Izzy Becker 2-4, run; Kiki Pryor 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, run; Julia Russell 1-3, run; Tayah Burton 1-5, run; Emma Rice RBI
Cherokee Trail 12, Legacy 2
Score by innings:
Legacy 001 10 — 2
Cher. Trail 264 0x — 12
WP — Cherokee Trail: Emma Rice (5 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K). Cherokee Trail hitting: Kylie Twilt 2-3, 3B, 4 RBI, run; Kiki Pryor 2-3, RBI, 3 runs; Jocelyn Steiner 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Julia Russell 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI; Emma Rice 1-3, RBI; Izzy Becker 1-3, run; Kennedy Brian 1-4, RBI, 2 runs; Addi Krei 1-4, run; Tayah Burton 2 runs
Championship: ThunderRidge 8, Cherokee Trail 2
Score by innings:
Cherokee Trail 100 000 1 — 2
ThunderRidge 222 011 x — 8
LP — Cherokee Trail: Cayman Lightner (2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 0 K). Cherokee Trail hitting: Kiki Pryor 3-4, 2B, RBI; Emma Rice 1-1; Sydney Cobb 1-2; Julia Russell 1-3, run; Jocelyn Steiner 1-3; Tayah Burton 1-4, run, SB; Addi Krei RBI