Arvada – Nursing a one-run lead, Arvada West coach Jamie Thomson pulled his No. 1 pitcher and put in his other No. 1 pitcher.
The move worked.
Elizabeth Kramer replaced Cristy Grubbs in the fourth inning and burned through the first 11 batters she faced Saturday to preserve a 6-3 victory over Pomona in a Class 5A Jefferson County League game at Benford Field.
“Both of those girls are our No. 1s,” Thomson said. “They have the same ERA and the same number of strikeouts. They complement each other so well.”
Kramer struck out seven of 13 batters and allowed one walk and no hits in four innings.
Arvada West (11-4 overall, 5-1 league), No. 10 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, created a logjam at the top of the league standings with No. 5 Pomona (11-4, 4-2), No. 4 Bear Creek and Wheat Ridge.
To do that, the Wildcats needed just one big inning of offense before letting Kramer take over.
In the bottom of the second, freshman Mikey Kenney crushed a triple to left field and completed the trip around the bases when Kristen Beatty connected for a first-pitch single.
“That one was right down the middle,” Kenney said about the fateful pitch.
The next two batters after Beatty, Megan Johnson and Sara Tani, both hit singles to load the bases, and Jessie Schoepflin drew a four-pitch walk to score Beatty.
It was one of only two walks given up by Pomona pitcher Samantha Hunnel, who took over the starting spot while standout Jenn Brock was on a recruiting trip to Illinois.
“We can take a lot of positives out of this game,” Pomona coach Jim Biddle said. “We talk a lot about answering the bell, and I am very proud of Sam. She gave us a chance.”
With a 2-0 lead, Pomona second baseman Ashli Holland couldn’t handle a hard grounder off the bat of Nikki Baker, and two more runs scored.
The Panthers answered in the next frame with three runs. Meghan Hamilton drove in two with a triple, then scored on a single by Mona Booco.
Pomona 003 000 0 – 3 5 2
Arvada West 040 002 x – 6 8 0
Pomona – Holland 2b 3-1-1-0, Williams lf 3-0-0-0, Hamilton ss 3-1-1-2, Booco 3b 3-0-2-1, Winters c 3-0-0-0, C. Martinez dh 2-0-0-0, J. Martinez 1b 2-0-0-0, K. Martinez rf 3-0-0-0, Hunnel cf 3-1-1-0, Kehm dh 1-0-0-0. Totals 26-3-5-3.
Arvada West – Schoepflin 2b 3-2-3-1, Baker cf 4-0-0-0, Grubbs p 4-0-0-0, Kramer dh-p 3-0-1-0, Kauffman c 3-0-0-0, Kenney qb 3-1-1-0, Beatty rf 2-2-1-1, Johnson ss 3-0-1-0, Tani lf 3-1-1-0. Totals 28-6-8-2.
E – Holland, Hamilton. LOB – Pomona 5; Arvada West 6. 3B – Booco; Kenney, Schoepflin. SB – Booco; Schoepflin.
Batteries – Hunnel and Winters; Grubbs, Kramer (4) and Kauffman. W – Grubbs (6-2). L – Hunnel. WP – Hunnel; Kramer. Time – 1:42.
