AURORA | As much as the Cherokee Trail softball team is looking forward to playing rival and defending Class 5A state champion Grandview, the Cougars couldn’t look past Saturday’s matchup with Smoky Hill.
The scrappy Buffaloes scored five times in the fifth and sixth innings, but Cherokee Trail came up with enough defensive plays and clutch hits in the final inning to finish off a 10-5 victory.
Eight of the nine batters in the starting lineup for coach Caley Mitchell’s Cougars had at least one base hit, with Chloe Knapp, Megan Medhus, Alyssa Yoshida, Sydney Hinton and Lexi Gillen delivering two apiece.
Yoshida drove in three runs, Sonoma Olson plated two and Kourtney Kellogg had a key sixth-inning home run for Cherokee Trail, which won its seventh game in a row to improve to 11-3 overall and 2-0 in the Centennial League.
Starting pitcher Emily Bell allowed four runs in five innings on the mound for the victory, while Audrey Pickett finished off the last two innings.
The Cougars can now turn their attention to their 4:30 p.m. Tuesday visit to Grandview (9-5, 2-0), which posted a 12-8 win over Cherry Creek Saturday.
Smoky Hill (8-5, 0-1) — which has already matched its win total of last season with eight — fell despite racking up 16 hits, including four from sophomore Kayla Banks.
Coach Mark Siemer’s Buffs hit into two double plays, both that involved players getting thrown out from the outfield, and left at least one runner on base in six of seven innings.
Smoky Hill starter Maddie Siemer allowed 14 hits and struck out eight.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
CHEROKEE TRAIL 10, SMOKY HILL 5
Score by innings:
Cher. Trail 320 001 4 — 10 14 0
Smoky Hill 000 014 0 — 5 16 2
CHEROKEE TRAIL (ab-r-h-rbi)
Skylar Higens 1b 3-1-1-0, Chloe Knapp cf 4-2-2-0, Megan Medus lf 3-2-2-0, Sonoma Olson dp 3-2-1-2, Kourtney Kellogg c 4-1-1-1, Alyssa Yoshida ss 4-1-2-3, Sydney Hinton 3b 3-0-2-1, Lexi Gillen 2b 5-0-2-0, Mackenzie Strong rf 2-0-0-0, Kaitlynn Roenfeldt ph 2-0-1-0. Totals 32-10-14-7. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Emily Bell (W, 5-12-4-4-2-3) Audrey Pickett (2-4-1-1-1-1).
SMOKY HILL (ab-r-h-rbi)
Mattie Kennedy rf 2-0-0-0, Kayla Banks 1b 4-0-4-1, Emilie Roberts c 3-0-2-1, Maddie Siemer p 4-0-1-1, Stephanie Alfaro 3b 4-1-2-0, Becca Wood ss 4-1-2-1, Shayne Walton 2b 4-0-1-1, Jordyn Richey pr 0-1-0-0, Malena Murillo lf 4-0-2-0, Dulci Martinez pr 0-1-0-0, Laurel Wilson cf 3-1-2-0. Totals 32-5-16-5. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Maddie Siemer (L, 7-14-10-7-7-8).