Arvada – It is good to be Jenn Brock these days.
Pomona’s senior ace enjoyed a recruiting trip to the University of Illinois this weekend, decided to accept the school’s scholarship offer Sunday night and then fired a two-hit shutout Tuesday that further tightened the top of the Class 5A Jefferson County League standings.
Brock struck out six and pitched 5 2/3 innings of no-hit softball in the Panthers’ 2-0 victory over Bear Creek at Kruse Field.
No. 4 Bear Creek (12-3, 5-1 league) and Arvada West have one league loss, and No. 5 Pomona (11-5, 5-2), Lakewood and Wheat Ridge have two league losses with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
“The fourth- or fifth-place team in this league could win the state title,” Pomona coach Jim Biddle said.
If Brock continues to pitch the way she did Tuesday, the Panthers could challenge for their first softball championship.
“We knew it would be a dogfight,” first-year Bear Creek coach Mark Roberts said. “Brock is as good as everyone said she is.”
And she needed to be good. Pitching for the Bears was Kaleigh Starr, making for a matchup between the best pitchers in Jefferson County. Starr struck out eight batters, but Pomona junior Ashli Holland was not among that group.
Holland went 3-for-3 with a crucial RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning.
But it was the bottom of the third inning when Pomona broke the scoreless tie and started to connect on Starr’s pitches. Kristina Martinez reached base with a single and then scored from second, just beating the throw to the plate from center field.
As Brock continued to sit down Bear Creek batters, Holland gave the Panthers some breathing room with a hard shot down the third-base line to score Martinez from first.
“(Starr) is a really good pitcher,” Holland said. “I just went up the plate and tried to swing with confidence. We have to come out prepared and show that we can handle any team.”
Brock and Starr share the same pitching coach, Regis University assistant Jenny Lindstrom, and both fired in a fastball that hovered around 60 mph.
“We both want to impress (Lindstrom). I knew this would be a close game,” said Brock, who has thrown two no-hitters this season.
Bear Creek 000 000 0 – 0 2 1
Pomona 001 010 x – 2 8 0
Bear Creek – Starr p 2-0-1-0, Thompson 3b 2-0-0-0, Hensley c 3-0-0-0, Pearson ss 3-0-1-0, Sulaski 1b 3-0-0-0, Strobel cf 2-0-0-0, Pacheco lf 2-0-0-0, Carlson rf 1-0-0-0, Atencio 2b 2-0-0-0. Totals 20-0-2-0.
Pomona – Holland c 3-0-3-1, Williams lf 3-0-1-1, Hamilton ss 3-0-0-0, Brock p 3-0-1-0, Booco 3b 3-0-0-0, Hunnel rf 3-0-1-0, Osiecki cf 3-0-0-0, J. Martinez 1b 3-0-1-0, K. Martinez 2b 3-2-1-0. Totals 27-2-8-2.
Batteries – Starr and Hensley; Brock and Holland. W – Brock (10-3). L – Starr (7-2).
E – Thompson. LOB – Bear Creek 2; Pomona 6. 2b – Holland. SB – Holland, Hunnel. Time – 1:38.
