AURORA | The Eaglecrest softball team went into Class 5A regionals seeded first and will go into the 5A state tournament seeded first, with the end goal of a first-place finish to the 2017 season.
The Raptors lived up to their lofty seeding at Saturday’s Region 1 tournament at the Aurora Sports Park, beating Denver East and Mountain Vista by a combined total of 25-1 in two 10-run rule victories.
Coach Yvette Hendrian’s Eaglecrest team improved to 20-1 and takes the No. 1 seed into the state tournament, which runs Oct. 20-21 at Complex C at the Aurora Sports Park. The Raptors face 16th-seeded Rocky Mountain — which advanced as the second team out of the Region 6 tournament — at 10 a.m., with the winner moving into the 2:30 p.m. quarterfinals.
An interesting second round matchup could be in store, as Eaglecrest could take on 20-2 Brighton, which enters the state tournament as the No. 9 seed after going into regionals at No. 2.
The Bulldogs’ only loss going into regional play came against the Raptors way back on Aug. 24, a 5-3 Eaglecrest victory in the second game of the season for both teams.
Brighton — which lost to now sixth-seeded Loveland in the Region 8 championship game, then rebounded to beat Smoky Hill to get in — takes on eighth-seeded Pomona in another 10 a.m. contest.
The upper portion of the bracket includes some other familiar teams for Eaglecrest, which beat No. 4 Fossil Ridge and No. 12 Douglas County in the regular season.
With Brighton’s regional loss, Arvada West assumed the No. 2 overall seed and heads the bottom half of the bracket.
⚾️⚾️⚾️ — Full results from the eight four-team regional tournaments played Oct. 14, here
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2017 CLASS 5A STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
First round, Oct. 20 at Aurora Sports Park
Upper bracket
Game 1: No. 16 Rocky Mountain (13-9) vs. NO. 1 EAGLECREST (20-1), 10 a.m.
Game 2: No. 9 Brighton (20-2) vs. No. 8 Pomona (14-7), 10 a.m.
Game 3: No. 13 Grand Junction Central (17-5) vs. No. 4 Fossil Ridge (19-2), 10 a.m.
Game 4: No. 12 Douglas County (13-9) vs. No. 5 Columbine (15-6), 10 a.m.
Lower bracket
Game 5: No. 14 ThunderRidge (17-5) vs. No. 3 Legacy (18-3), 12:15 p.m.
Game 6: No. 11 Prairie View (18-4) vs. No. 6 Loveland (14-7), 12:15 p.m.
Game 7: No. 15 Mountain Vista (17-5) vs. No. 2 Arvada West (18-3), 12:15 p.m.
Game 8: No. 10 Legend (14-8) vs. No. 7 Cherry Creek (11-10), 12:15 p.m.
⚾️⚾️⚾️ — Full Class 5A state tournament schedule, here