AURORA | In the thick of a two-week stretch of chaos, Grandview softball coach Liz Carter believes her team will reap the benefits independent of the results.
The Wolves saw the undefeated start to their season come to an end Friday at the Aurora Sports Park when they finished 1-2 in a three-game grind, which came on the heels of a Centennial League game on Thursday and will be followed by two games Saturday and a clash with rival Cherokee Trail slated for Monday.
Grandview found the challenge stiff in its pool of the Dave Sanders Memorial tournament, as it suffered a 4-2 loss to D’Evelyn in its opener, turned around and dropped a 2-1 eight-inning contest to Fruita Monument and finished the day with a 5-0 shutout of Ponderosa.
That sends the Wolves (7-2) into a matchup with ThunderRidge (9-2) at 11 a.m., which will determine their opponent for the final game.
Carter believes her team gains something from every game — win or lose — and the way it finished was encouraging. Though the offense didn’t produce in the three games the way it had in the first six (in which Grandview averaged 11.5 runs per game), the Wolves came out and put up four runs in the first inning on Ponderosa.
Senior Ashley Miller singled and scored on a on error in right field on a flyball hit by senior Kristin Gallego, who would eventually score herself, while sophomore Madison Jaramillo knocked in senior Aubrey DeJong and junior Brooklyn Heil with a double.
Heil added an RBI single in the third inning to send Miller home and though that would be it as far as scoring, it was plenty for junior Leah Graves and senior Tressa Treesh, who combined for the shutout on the mound.
It took some great defense to keep up the zero — which requires Carter to fulfill her ongoing promise to buy the team donuts when they record a shutout — but the Wolves had that.
The Mustangs loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth inning, but Grandview pulled a 3-2 double play when Jaramillo fielded a grounder, stepped on first base and fired home to senior catcher Peytann Weiland, who tagged a runner trying to score. Graves then got out of the inning with a flyout.
Treesh saw Ponderosa again load the bases in the seventh, but a line drive to right field was caught by junior Maddie Heinrich and turned into a double play as the runner was caught off first base. A groundball to sophomore shortstop Sasha Kennedy ended the game.
Previously, managed just two runs against D’Evelyn — both delivered on a hit by Miller — and then was limited to just three hits and a run-scoring hit by Kennedy against Fruita Monument.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
Grandview 5, Ponderosa 0
Score by innings:
Ponderosa 000 000 0 — 0
Grandview 401 000 x — 5
WP — Grandview: Leah Graves (4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). Grandview hitting: Brooklyn Heil 2-3, 2 RBI, run; Aubrey DeJong 2-3, run; 2 SBs; Ashley Miller 1-2, 2 runs; Madison Jaramillo 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Macy Hemstreet 1-3, 2B
Fruita Monument 2, Grandview 1
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Fruita Monument 101 000 0 — 2 11 2
Grandview 001 000 0 — 1 3 0
LP — Grandview: Leah Graves (3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). Grandview hitting: Sasha Kennedy 2-3, RBI; Peytann Weiland 1-2; Madison Jaramillo run; Aubrey DeJong SB
D’Evelyn 4, Grandview 2
Score by innings:
Grandview 002 000 0 — 2
D’Evelyn 000 400 x — 4
LP — Grandview: Kamaya Soniea-Harris (3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Grandview hitting: Peytann Weiland 1-2, 2B; Ashley Miller 1-3, 2 RBI; Sasha Kennedy run; Maddie Heinrich run