September 10, 2015
Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel • Westminster Window 19
SPORTS
LOCAL
Mustangs own the home range Mountain Range hosts, wins softball tournament By Scott Stocker Special to Colorado Community Media The players labored hard over the two days of the Mountain Range Invitational Softball Tournament, Sept. 4-5 of the long Labor Day weekend. As it turned out, host Mountain Range was able to labor the hardest as the Mustangs of coach Dane Craig were able to win all three of their games in an impressive fashion. The Mustangs galloped by Rampart 16-8 in the championship game, beat Horizon 14-5 in the semifinals and come through with a 16-0 victory over Rangeview in the opener. Mountain Range certainly turned the heat up, on a warm day to begin with, as the Mustangs scored five runs in the top of the first inning against Rampart, then tacked on four more in the second for a 9-0 lead. Rampart would rebound in the bottom of the second as the Rams, coached by Ryan Sheets, would score six times. Leading the way for Mountain Range through the tournament was Riley Craig. She would come through with 11 hits, score nine times and drive in 11 runs. Her championship game accounted for a sensational seven runs driven in from four hits. “I don’t have any regrets as a team as we all had fun and that made it much easier to play in our tournament,” said Craig after the tournament championship game. “We just wanted to go out and play hard and keep our momentum up on the field. Rock on.” Rampart’s Madison Gerchow had a good effort against Mountain Range, but she certainly hoped to not fall so far behind, early. “I think we all gave it a good effort and I’m proud that we were able to score eight runs on such a good team,” Gerchow said.
“The key is for me to keep my composure, regardless of errors. We have such a young team, only two seniors, two juniors and the rest sophomores and freshman. I think we do have some excellent expectations and this has been a pretty good start for us.” Hunter Huser and Valerie Ortega also had a fine tournament effort as Mountain Range improved to 6-0, while Rampart would drop to 3-1 on the young season. Huser would also be credited with the win on the mound. “We played a lot better as a team here than last year,” Huser said. “Rampart gave us a good game. We were able to put the pressure on and go through it. We just want to keep our pressure up to have a good season.” Ortega didn’t have the tournament at the plate as she had hoped, but in the field, she was darn good. “We did have fun and we are becoming very close as a team,” Ortega said. “We need to keep moving. The key for me is just to work hard for me and for the team. We need to move on from our tournament and to make sure we prepare ourselves for the season.” Craig was pleased with the effort that his team came through with and he just hopes they can keep their efforts up though the season. “I think this was much better than last year as we certainly had a lot of good competition,” Craig said. “We were a little flat at times, but the kids got their pulses up. My seniors stepped up. Riley was on top of her game, but we had the girls come through when they needed. “I’m confident the girls will continue to play hard through the season,” said Craig. “We also have some fine freshmen and they also played well. You can only hope the trend continues through the year. It was a good effort for the girls to see how they are now and how they can improve.” Shortstop Ally Richter had one of her finest games against Horizon coming though for three hits and a pair of runs
driven across the plate. “It was exciting to have such good competition from our nearby rival,” said Richter, who would eventually score four times in the championship. “We came out and we played hard as a team. I just want to play hard for the team and not for myself. Our hitting has been a key and we’ve been able to get good contact on the ball. I’m excited for how we have been able to do. Now, we just need to keep it up.” Mountain Range got off to a high level beginning in the first game of the tournament as the Mustangs earned a decisive 16-0 victory against Rangeview. Freshman Montana Alley was solid as she knocked in three runs for the winners. Huser and Alyssa Guadiana combined for a nohitter. Arapahoe came through to win the Consolation title in the tournament, beating Bear Creek 5-4. The Warriors were beaten by Poudre 10-7 in the quarterfinal, but came back to beat Westminster 7-0 in a 10-inning game in which they scored all seven runs in the top of the 10th. Despite the loss against Arapahoe, Bear Creek coach Amanda Keesey was fairly pleased with how her team played in the tourney. Bears Dakota Abeyta and Erin Hallman also felt their teammates gave it a good effort. “This was a good tournament with a good level of competition, and I think we have learned a lot as a team,” Keesey said. “We’ve had good competition now before beginning our league. I saw a lot of good efforts from our pitchers and we just want all our players to get better.” “We have room for improvement and to definitely focus on what we need to accomplish,” added Abeyta. “We just need to get better as a team. We need to adjust to pitching and to hit well when we need to. I felt I did well defensively in the tournament.” Said Hallman, “I thought I did personally good. We definitely have room for improvement and we will all do better. We needed to adjust to pitchers and just to
MOUNTAIN RANGE 16, RAMPART 8 Mountain Range 5 4 0 1 2 1 3 — 1615-2 Rampart 8-10-7
0602000—
MR (ab, r, h, rbi) – Montana Alley 4-1-2; Kaitlyn Collins 0-2-0-0; Rachel Cowell 5-0-3-1; Jen Richter 5-1-2-1; Trinity Gallegos 5-2-1-0; Tirzah Sisneros 5-0-2-1; Ally Richter 5-2-2-4; Valerie Ortega 5-1-1-2; Riley Craig 5-4-3-1; Hunter Huser 5-2-4-4. Totals: 44-16-19-16. WP: Huser. R (ab, r, h, rbi) – Shelby Shepard 4-1-3-1; Lenee Gamboa 4-1-2-2; Olivia Risch 4-02-2; Abby Konkel 1-0-0-0; M. Heimlich 0-1-0-0; Madison Gerchow 4-1-2-1; Kate Frederick 1-1-0-0; Alysa McDowell 4-0-00; Nicole Widner 4-1-1-0; Megan Schrage 3-1-0-0. Totals: 31-8-10-7. LP: McDowell. SEMIFINAL: MOUNTAIN RANGE 14, HORIZON 5 Mountain Range 0 3 0 1 5 0 4 – 13-19-1 Horizon
0 0 0 3 0 0 2 — 5-11-2
MR (ab, r, h, rbi) – Montana Alley 2-1-1-0, Rachel Cowell 1-0-1-0; Jen Richter 3-3-20; Trinity Gallegos 3-2-1-1; Tirzah Sisneros 4-1-2-0; Ally Richter 5-3-2-1; Valerie Ortega 4-1-2-1; Riley Craig 5-1-4-3; Ellery Sherman 4-1-2-1; Hunter Huser 4-1-1-1. Totals: 35-14-19-8. WP: Huser.
keep our heads in the game.” Westminster coach Alexandra Dickinson had hoped for better results, but knew it was going to be difficult coming in. The Wolves beat Rangeview 16-6 in their tourney final. “We were second in this tournament last year, but we have lost a lot of girls,” Dickinson said. “It’s a rebuilding season and the girls have to practice hard and come out to play. I feel confident. This is our first win of the year and we just want to get better every game.” Certainly the thoughts of Westminster’s
Softball continues on Page 21
SPORTS BRIEF Holy Family QB sets record in high-scoring match Fans who like a lot of offense should circle games between
Holy Family and Mountain View. The teams combined for 113 points last season in the Tigers’ 66-47 victory. On Sept. 4 at Holy Family, the Tigers won another high-
tion but four different receivers had TD receptions. The 607-yard performance set a new state record, thanks in large part to the Tigers’ receivers, including junior Joe Golter, who hauled in an 80-yarder
scoring affair over the Mountain Lions. Senior quarterback Chris Helbig completed 29 of 45 passes for 607 yards and six touchdowns in the Tigers’ 49-43 win. He did throw one intercep-
from Helbig. On defense, senior linebacker Ben Lavoie stymied much of Mountain View’s chances, racking up a team-leading 12 sacks. He also grabbed one interception.
SPORTS ROUNDUP HORIZON HAWKS FOOTBALL Horizon 39, Prairie View 6 Senior Cade Verkler carried the football 24 times for 187 yards and scored three TDs in the Hawks’ Sept. 4 win at Prairie View. Damian Bell had eight total tackles for the Hawks which led 39-0 heading in the fourth quarter.
MOUNTAIN RANGE MUSTANGS
had three runs and stole two bases. SOCCER Horizon 2, Silver Creek 1 The Hawks won at home in the Sept. 1 non-conference game. No individual player statistics were available. BOYS TENNIS Brighton 5, Horizon 2
ThunderRidge 14, Horizon 7
The Hawks lost on the road Sept. 1.
Key performers: Sophomore Aubree Karraker
BOYS SOCCER
The Mustangs didn’t match up well with the Golden Eagles and yielded 418 yards in total offense in the Sept. 3 game played at North Stadium.
The Mustangs won on Sept. 2 in an away, nonconference game.
SOFTBALL Mountain Range 10, Northglenn 0 The Mustangs won in a home, nonconference game on Sept. 1.
SOFTBALL The Hawks lost the Sept. 2 home non-conference game.
FOOTBALL Mountain Vista 38, Mountain Range 0
Key performers: Sophomore Wade Wohlford won his singles match in two sets. Sophomores Gavin Wengenroth and Ryan Starbuck won their doubles match in two sets.
Key performers: Sophomore Trinity Gallegos scored three runs, and seniors Ally Richter and Riley Craig both scored two runs.
Mountain Range 6, Lakewood 3
Key performers: Junior Collin Yeager scored three goals, and senior Justin Johnson had eight saves as goalie. BOYS TENNIS On Sept. 2, home Mountain Range got victories from Hunter Rohlman (No.1 Singles, 6-2, 7-5) Holden Banks and Matt Davis (No. 1 doubles, 1-6, 7-6, 6-4).
WESTMINSTER WOLVES FOOTBALL
on Sept. 1 in a non-conference game.
Westminster 44, Rangeview 6
Key performers: Savannah Garcia had one run and Erica Loya put out four of Pomona’s players.
Key performers: Maya Galicia had one hit at base, Galicia and Jacee Casebolt put out three of Broomfield’s players.
Broomfield 15, Westminster 0
BOYS SOCCER
The Wolves lost the Aug. 31 away, non-conference game against Broomfield.
Westminster 2, Monarch 1
The Warriors intercepted three passes in a season opening home victory on Sept. 4. SOFTBALL Pomona 37, Westminster 1 The wolves fell at home to the Pomona Panthers
The Wolves won the Sept. 3 nonconference home game against Monarch.
Key performers: Senior Gio Dominguez and sophomore Isaac Macias both scored one goal. Rock Canyon 2, Westminster 1 The wolves lost on Sept. 1 in a non-conference away game against Rock Canyon. Key performers: Senior Brandon Enriquez scored one goal and senior Jesus Lopez had eight saves in goal. Roundup continues on Page 20