Championship is all business for Legacy's Babcock

By Brad Byler, Special to the Rocky

Published October 20, 2007 at midnight

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AURORA - Playing in a state tournament can be an overwhelming experience for any sophomore.

With several years of competitive softball already under her belt, the Legacy pitcher approached the final weekend of the Class 5A state softball tournament like it was just another summer tournament, and her business-like approach carried the Lightning to the state championship on Saturday.

Just an hour after pitching a 2-0 shutout over Wheat Ridge in the semifinals at Aurora Sports Park, Babcock pitched another gem to shutout Bear Creek 2-0 in the championship game. She gave up just one harmless single against the Bears, walked one batter and struck out seven to lift the Lightning (23-2) to its first-ever softball state title.

Even on an unseasonably warm day, Babcock said she didn't do anything special to prepare for the Bears. She just relied on her experience to carry her through, and her Legacy teammates, as they have done all season, relied on their sophomore to finish the job.

'I didn't drink any Gatorade,' said Babcock, who allowed just two runs in 16 2/3 innings in the tournament. 'Just good old water. I'm pretty used to this from competitive ball. I'm used to pitching about four games in a day. I just went in and thought of it as a regular tournament playing competitive ball.'

The score of the championship game was 0-0 through three innings before Legacy's Breana Mathews hit a solo homerun over the centerfield fence with one out off Bear Creek pitcher Mallorie Sulaski. It was Matthews fifth homerun of the season, and Babcock seemed to get stronger with the 1-0 lead. The next inning she struck out the side for the first time in the game.

'I was definitely fired up after Bre hit that homerun,' said Babcock, the Rocky Mountain News 5A tournament MVP.

In the sixth inning Legacy scored an insurance run off of Sulaski when Cassie Long's single drove in Melissa Marcovecchio from third base. Long's hit was just the fourth off of Sulaski, but with Babcock on the mound it was enough to win the title.

'She is just one of a kind,' Long said of Babcock. 'We expect a lot out of her, and she steps it up every time and our expectations rise.'

Only one Bear Creek player reached second base against Babcock. In the fifth inning Kaylee Moody reached second on a Legacy error, but she was quickly stranded when Babcock struck out Kristen Starr to end the inning. The Bears stranded three runners on base in the game.

Bear Creek, the top seed in the tournament, finished the season with just two losses, but both defeats were to Legacy. The Bears (22-2) had lost 2-1 to the Lightning in September in a 10-inning game.

'We really wanted to come back and beat Legacy and show them that that first game was not how it should have been,' Bear Creek coach Rory Rainey said. 'But you get down to the final four teams, they were all great teams and anybody could have beaten anybody.'

Sulaski beat Columbine 5-1 in the semifinals earlier in the day to lead the Bears into the championship game. Rainey said Mathews' fourth-inning homerun in the championship was a surprise, but the Bears had battled back from deficits before.

'Mallorie didn't give up many homeruns all year,' he said. 'We didn't experience that kind of thing very often. But I don't think it got us down at all. We just weren't hitting the ball. Babcock pitched great today. When you go up against great pitching, that's what happens.'

Bear Creek 000 000 0 0 1 1

Legacy 000 101 x 2 4 1

BC (ab-r-h-rbi) ' Malorie Sulaski 3-0-0-0, Tonya Atencio 3-0-0-0, Selina Pacheco 2-0-0-0, Kate Strobel 3-0-0-0, Olivia Hires 3-0-1-0, Joey Olmedo 1-0-0-0, Kaylee Moody 1-0-0-0, Kristen Starr 2-0-0-0, Staley Salazar 2-0-0-0, Monique Romero 0-0-0-0. Pitching ' Sulaski (ip-h-r-er-so-bb) 6-4-2-2-6-0.

L ' Melissa Marcovecchio 3-1-2-0, Cassie Long 3-0-1-1, Breana Matthews 3-1-1-1, Buggs Torrez 3-0-0-0, Shelby Babcock 2-0-0-0, Tiana Rendon 2-0-0-0, Shae Rodriguez 2-0-0-0, Kellen Wittkop 1-0-0-0, Kaitlyn Mattila 2-0-0-0, Kassidy Apodaca 1-0-0-0. Pitching ' Babcock 7-1-0-0-7-1.

E ' Wittkop, Olmedo. LOB ' Bear Creek 3, Legacy 2. HR ' Matthews. SB ' Marcovecchio 2, Long. CS ' Pacheco. SAC ' Long.

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