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Mustangs survive a wild day of upsets

By Adam Dunivan Special to the Rocky

Published October 20, 2007 at midnight

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AURORA - After a topsy-turvy first day of the Class 4A state softball tournament on Friday, the Ralston Valley girls almost seemed like the odd team out in Saturday's final four.

The Mustangs, seeded third, were the only team to survive a wild day of upsets at the Aurora Sports Park.



Meaghan Murphy and the rest of her teammates made sure there would be no more shockers in this year's

competition.

Murphy, a sophomore pitcher, shut down the opposition all weekend long, finishing a brilliant four-game stretch with a 2-0 championship-game shutout of Pueblo Central to secure the second title in the sport for the Mustangs program.

It's awesome, it feels just so awesome,' said Murphy, who threw three shutouts in the two-day span to earn the Rocky Mountain News' most valuable player honor. 'I felt like I was pitching my best (this weekend). It was nerve-wracking but we did it.'

Murphy's efforts seemed pretty effortless in pitching 26 innings, 25 of which she was not scored on. Her lone mistake of the tournament was allowing a three-run home run in the semifinal game against Cherokee Trail, but her team had already posted her a five-run lead.

Against the Wildcats in the championship, Murphy was helped out by defense and some strikeouts at key times. Pueblo Central (17-7) never had a base runner reach third base and only had three hits.

'She was really nervous (Friday) morning when we first started, but I told her 'Hey, you're supposed to be here',' Ralston Valley coach Wendy Davies said. 'She belonged here and she dominated.'

Pueblo Central's biggest threat came in the sixth, when Lita Romero reached second base with just one out with team hitting leader Kayla Dionese at the plate.

First baseman Hannah Strauss made one of the game?s bigger defensive plays when she caught Dionese's foul popup right up against the fence.

Murphy finished with nine strikeouts, including three with less than two outs and runners on base. She also struck out 11 Cherokee Trail batters in the Mustangs' 6-3 semifinal win.

'Meaghan has always been good for us,' said Strauss, a senior who hit a home run in the semifinal win. 'She used to get flustered at the umpires early in the season but she's worked hard on that and it didn't affect how she played. She threw so great.'

While Ralston Valley (21-4) did not light things up offensively in the championship, the lineup certainly was patient. The Mustangs broke through a tight game in the fifth when Liz Lucas singled in Danielle Jadgodzinski with two outs.

The Mustangs added another run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly by Jadgodzinski that scored Kristen Felten. The Mustangs left the bases loaded in the second and fifth innings, but found a way to get some runs across.

'We're the kind of team that never gives up, so as long as we're going full force and keeping focused I knew we'd eventually get one across - and eventually two,' Davies said.

For Pueblo Central, the three hits was the lowest output of the tournament. The Wildcats rallied past Greeley West 4-1 in the semifinals, thanks in part to Spartans ace Tory Miller being knocked out of the game in the third after being hit in the face by the ball, but didn?t find the holes against the Mustangs.

'They made the plays when we put the ball in play,' said Pueblo Central coach Larry Romero, whose team was making its first championship game appearance. 'We wish we would have hit the ball a little better today. We had a great day (Friday) but came up a little short (Saturday).'



Championship game

Pueblo Central 000 000 0 ? 0 3 1

Ralston Valley 000 011 x ? 2 7 2

PC (ab-r-h-bi) ? Amber Pacheco ss 2-0-0-0, Lita Romero

3b 2-0-1-0, Kayla Dionese p 3-0-1-0, Danni Oliva c

2-0-0-0, Desi Carrillo 2b 3-0-0-0, Doreen Vasquez cf

3-0-0-0, Erika Vigil rf 2-0-0-0, Sorcha Ogaz ph

1-0-0-0, Tori Esparsen 1b 3-0-1-0, Rachel Batcholder

dp 2-0-0-0, Breanna Cordova dp 1-0-0-0, Lexi Montoya

lf 0-0-0-0. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) ? Dionese (L,

15-5) 6-7-2-1-4-4.

RV ? Danielle Jagodzinski cf 3-1-0-1, Bri Donahue rf

4-0-1-0, Kelley Reeves ss 1-0-1-0, Liz Lucas c

3-0-1-1, Meaghan Murphy p 3-0-1-0, Jenny Hedrick 3b

1-0-0-0, Hannah Strauss 1b 3-0-0-0, Kristen Felten 2b

2-1-2-0, Sydney Bell dp 2-0-1-0, Ashley Heller lf

0-0-0-0. Pitching (W, 18-4) 7-3-0-0-2-9.

E ? Pacheco, Reeves 2. LOB ? Pueblo Central 5, Ralston

Valley 8. SAC ? Romero, Reeves, Bell. SF ?Jagodzinski.



Semifinal games

Ralston Valley 001 220 1 ? 6 11 1

Cherokee Trail 000 003 0 ? 3 3 3

RV (ab-r-h-bi) ? Danielle Jagodzinski cf 4-1-1-0,

Briana Donahue rf 4-0-1-1, Kelley Reeves ss, 4-0-1-1,

Liz Lucas c 4-1-3-2, Meaghan Murphy p 4-0-1-0, Jenny

Hedrick 3b 3-0-0-0, Hannah Strauss 1b 3-1-1-2, Kristen

Felton 2b 3-1-1-0, Sydney Bell lf 2-1-2-0. Pitching

(ip-h-r-er-bb-k) ? Murphy (W) 7-3-3-3-2-11.

CT ? Albernice Drayton cf 3-1-0-0, Stephanie Runia ss

2-1-0-0, Christina Blanton c 3-0-0-0, Lindsey Dougal

3b 3-1-2-3, Chelsea Holi 1b 3-0-0-0, Sarah Bok p

3-0-0-0, Hannah Rutt dp 3-0-0-0, A.J. Harkins 2b

2-0-0-0, Alex Gronlund lf 3-0-1-0. Pitching ? Bok (L)

7-11-6-4-0-0.

Greeley West 100 000 0 ? 1 3 1

Pueblo Central 002 020 x ? 4 8 1

GW ? Ashley Tellez cf 3-1-1-1, Tara Martinez 1b 3-0-0-0, Kari Ameling c 3-0-1-0, Steph Pierson ss 3-0-0-0, Kara Finger 3b 3-0-0-0, Brittany Robinson lf 3-0-0-0, Dani Meier 2b 2-0-1-0, Jamie Kurtz lf-p

2-0-0-0, Tori Miller p 1-0-0-0, Sheala Anaya ph 1-0-0-0. Pitching ? Tori Miller (L) 2.1-3-2-2-0-2, Kurtz 3.2-5-2-0-1-1.

PC ? Lita Romero 3b 4-1-2-0, Doreen Vasquez cf 3-1-1-0, Kayla Dionese p 3-1-2-0, Amber Pacheco ss

2-0-0-0, Desi Oliva 2-0-1-2, Danni Oliva 2-0-1-0, Tanisha Muniz dp 2-0-0-0, Cordova ph 1-0-0-0, Lexi

Montoya lf 2-0-0-0, Sorcha Ogaz 1-0-0-0, Tori Esparson 1b 2-1-1-0, Erika Vigil rf 0-0-0-0. Pitching ? Dionese (W) ? 7-3-1-1-1-10.