AURORA | A look back at some of the key games, tournaments and happenings in Aurora prep sports from Aug. 30-Sept. 6, 2017:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
With one exception, the Eaglecrest softball team had an outstanding showing at the rugged Erie Tournament of Champions Sept. 1-2.
The Raptors finished 3-1 in a tournament featuring a field of many of Colorado’s best teams along with a handful of strong squads from Oklahoma.
It was an Oklahoma powerhouse —vaunted Broken Arrow — that dealt Eaglecrest (7-1) its only loss of the season, a 13-1 defeat Sept. 1 that marked the first time the Raptors lost by the 10-run mercy rule in nearly a full calendar year.
Aside from that, the Raptors rolled past Erie (10-6), Grove (Oklahoma) by a 7-1 count and Ralston Valley (5-2) in play at The Ballpark at Erie. Senior Kailey Wilson starred offensively for Eaglecrest with 10 hits in four games, including two home runs and six RBI, while junior Rachel Sabourin homered twice in the finale and had five hits.
Senior Mackenzie Hochstetler had two outstanding pitching performances against Erie and Ralston Valley, while senior Braelyne Crenshaw dominated Grove, but took the brunt of the attack from Broken Arrow, which pounded out 15 hits and homered three times.
Cherokee Trail also got a healthy dose of Broken Arrow in a 23-3 loss, but otherwise had a successful showing in Erie with wins over Sequoyah and Grove from Oklahoma, plus Pomona and Pueblo West.
Senior catcher Megan Medhus knocked in 15 runs on 10 hits in five games for the Cougars, the defending Class 5A state champions.
Grandview finished up with a 16-7 win over Loveland Sept. 2 after dropping its first four contests.
• The Cherokee Trail volleyball team picked up a big four-set win over Denver East Sept. 5, as the Cougars continued the momentum from their win to close out the Regis Jesuit Jam.
• Junior Ransom Hall tallied in the first half and the Grandview boys soccer team made it stand up in a 1-0 win over upstart Hinkley Sept. 5 at Stutler Bowl.
• Junior Rachel Sabourin slugged a three-run triple to put the Eaglecrest softball team ahead of Fossil Ridge Sept. 5 and sent the Raptors on their way to a 7-2 win over the previously undefeated SaberCats. Senior Alicia Fraire doubled in the first run in a four-run Eaglecrest rally and Kailey Wilson’s late three-run homer gave the Raptors all the runs they needed to back starter Braelyne Crenshaw.
• The Smoky Hill softball team finished as the runner-up of the King of the Mountain tournament hosted by Mountain Range Sept. 1-2. The Buffaloes flexed their muscles in the first two games as they hit a combined eight home runs in wins over Rampart and Mountain Range — three apiece from senior Emilie Roberts and freshman Lexie Hassemer and two from sophomore Yasmine Ybarra — before a 10-1 loss to ThunderRidge in the Sept. 2 title game.
• The Hinkley boys soccer team moved to 2-0 on the season with a 1-0 road victory against Legacy Aug. 31. The Thunderbirds earned their second win against a Class 5A playoff team from last season — following a victory over Cherry Creek in their season opener — by topping the Lightning on a goal by senior Anandro Sinaga.
• Eaglecrest’s Gavin Morgenegg won the junior/senior boys race at the Ponderosa Mustang Stampede Aug. 31 at Salisbury Park, following up his third place finish at the Aurora City Championships.
• Regis Jesuit’s Colin Giardino exploded to score all four of his team’s goals in a 4-3 see-saw boys soccer win Aug. 30 at Cherokee Trail. Giardino scored a hat trick in the first half and tallied again in the second half to give the Raiders a win over the Cougars, who got two goals from Mike Menzies and one from Dylan Reimer.
