AURORA | The Eaglecrest softball team’s return to the Class 5A state tournament after a five-year absence didn’t go quite as planned.
Coach Yvette Hendrian’s Raptors ran into a tough Fruita Monument team in their opening round matchup Friday morning at the Aurora Sports Park and the ninth-seeded Wildcats used two big rallies in their last two at-bats — with innings of five and eight runs — for a 14-0 victory over eighth-seeded Eaglecrest.
Fruita Monument would go on to knock off defending state champion and No. 1 seed Columbine in the quarterfinals and reach the final day of the tournament along with No. 2 Chatfield, No. 4 Erie and No. 14 Fossil Ridge.
Eaglecrest — which shook up the state tournament bracket when it defeated then top-seeded Arvada West in regional play — played in the state tournament for the first time since 2018. The Raptors finished 19-7 overall with six of their seven losses coming to teams that qualified for the 16-team state tournament (two to Grandview and one apiece to Cherokee Trail, Columbine, ThunderRidge and Fruita Monument, while the other defeat came to Arapahoe in Centennial League play).
The final game was an anomaly for many reasons for Eaglecrest.
An offense that averaged more than seven runs per game throughout the season was held hitless by Fruita Monument starter Chloe Padilla and had just one baserunner in senior Addison Mower, who drew a walk. Padilla recorded eight strikeouts in the contest.
Also, the Raptors allowed an opponent to score in double figures for only the second time all season (the other was a 15-0 loss to Centennial League rival Cherokee Trail). Eaglecrest committed five errors in the ballgame behind three pitchers — starter Briahna Gallegos and relievers Jordan Stilley and Zaya Elliott — while the Wildcats also produced 14 hits, including two home runs.
Eaglecrest will graduate a number of key seniors, including infielders Mower, Jac Smith and Izzy Ervin along with outfielders Megan Drugan and McKenna George, who were five of the team’s top six hitters in terms of batting average for the season.
Aurora teams were all eliminated on the opening day of the tournament as Cherokee Trail and Grandview won their first games, but lost in the quarterfinals.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 CLASS 5A STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
First round: Fruita Monument 14, Eaglecrest 0
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Fruita Monument 100 058 — 14 14 0
Eaglecrest 000 000 — 0 0 5
FRUITA MONUMENT (ab-r-h-rbi)
Ava Stephens 5-3-4-0, Angelina Fortunato 3-1-1-1, Olivia Wirth 4-1-2-1, Bailey Bingham 4-2-2-3, Lacie Rodabaugh 2-2-1-0, Reina Roberts 4-0-0-0, Chloe Padilla 3-0-0-0, Peytan Scheer 2-0-1-0, Kristin Bulen 2-0-0-0. Totals 33-14-14-10. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Chloe Padilla (W, 6-0-0-0-1-8).
EAGLECREST (ab-r-h-rbi)
Jac Smith ss 3-0-0-0, Megan Drugan lf 3-0-0-0, Izzy Ervin 2-0-0-0, McKenna George cf 2-0-0-0, Addison Mower 1b 1-0-0-0, Callie Johnson 3b 0-0-0-0, Sybella Trevino dp 2-0-0-0, Kaitlyn Hendrian c 2-0-0-0, Chessa Reid rf 2-0-0-0. Totals 17-0-0-0. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Briahna Gallegos (L, 4 2/3-5-6-0-2-5), Jordan Stilley (1/3-3-4-4-1-0), Zaya Elliott (1-2-4-0-1-0)
2B — Fruita Monument: Carmella Fortunato. HR — Fruita Monument: Teagan Clements, Leila Hoisington