AURORA | Sydney Cobb got the take sign in a key situation in the late innings Wednesday, but the pitch she got was simply too good.
The Cherokee Trail sophomore had to override the call as soon as she saw a fastball coming and she made it pay off with a crushed three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning that turned out to be the difference in the Cougars’ 6-3 win over rival Grandview in the Centennial League Challenge championship game.
Cobb drove in five of the six runs and combined with fellow sophomore Emma Rice in throwing a seven-hitter as Cherokee Trail rallied from a three-run deficit to win the league championship for a second straight season.
“I was actually told to take on it, but it was down the middle, so I had to swing,” Cobb said. “It was a home run, so she (coach Caley Mitchell) can’t really get mad. I was trying to make sure I could get the runners on base in. I wasn’t thinking about hitting a home run, I was just trying to get it to the grass or where they couldn’t get it.”
Indeed, the lefty-swinging Cobb deposited the wall well over the fence in right center field to bring in juniors Kate Kenney and Izzy Becker along with herself and break open a game in which the Cougars (19-3) exploded late after the Wolves (17-6) held the lead most of the game.
Mitchell was glad that Cobb — who doubled in two runs in the previous inning and then scored on a double by Rice to tie the game — reacted to what she saw the way she did.
“You never want to make a decision that hurts the outcome, which it would have if she had taken it,” said Mitchell, who didn’t believe Cobb would get a fastball. “It’s hard facing a pitcher that changes speeds and it looks fat coming in and they disappears. It’s infuriating if it’s 3-0 and you just dribble one back to the pitcher.
“Thank God she read it was a fastball and she just demolished that ball. It was the right call.”
The two three-run rallies in the final two innings finally got Cherokee Trail on the scoreboard after it had been thwarted for the first five by Grandview senior starter Kamaya Soniea-Harris and senior reliever Leah Graves.
The Cougars might have scored in the fourth, but Rice was deemed to have left third base early as she tagged up and scored on a flyball to center by sophomore Delaney Falzon.
Things were getting a little dire because of how coach Liz Carter’s Grandview team came out from the opening pitch.
Junior speedster Sasha Kennedy dropped a ball into center field to lead off the top of the first inning, aggressively took second and scored on junior Maddie Donaldson’s sacrifice fly to put the Wolves up right off the bat.
Grandview added a single run in the fourth inning when junior Madison Jaramillo crushed a pitch from Cobb over the fence in left center for a home run and Kennedy (who went 4-for-4) upped the lead to three runs when she doubled in a run in the top of the fifth.
“They were playing well and I was a little worried because we were running out of time and we had to score three,” Mitchell said. “We just didn’t give up. We have too many kids who can hurt you with one swing to be ever out of it.”
Indeed Kenney and sophomore Tayah Burton drew walks in the bottom of the sixth off Graves and were chased home by Cobb, who scored a batter later when Rice put a ball into the gap.
The go-ahead rally started with a one-out walk to Kenney and a bloop single down the right field line by Becker. Graves struck out Burton for the second out, but Cobb came through as the next hitter to put Cherokee Trail in front.
“We just acted like the score wasn’t there and it was still a 0-0 game,” Cobb said. “Then we made it 3-3 so it was basically like a 0-0 game and we took the momentum from there.”
While the game marked the regular season finale for Grandview, the Cougars turn right around to face undefeated Broomfield on the road Thursday. Both Aurora teams will be part of the Class 5A regional postseason, which will be revealed Monday by the Colorado High School Activities Association.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
