Aurora – A few years down the road, sure. But now? Already?
Four years ago, the land that Cherokee Trail High School sits on was run by prairie dogs. Those still there today do not have to worry as much about local predators as they do about being bombarded by softballs hurtling off the bats of the Class 4A Skyline League champions.
A perfect athletic storm of sorts – top-notch facilities, a boom of houses and population in the area, and a focus on athletics as well as academics – seemed to make for a recipe of success at some point in the near future.
But the softball team is blazing its own path.
“Not bad for a third-year school,” Cherokee Trail softball coach Dick Hormann said.
In just their second year with a full varsity schedule, the Cougars are 16-2 with a mostly 5A schedule and ranked No. 7 in The Denver Post/9News 4A poll. And the depth and talent on the roster defies the fact that only 125 seniors roam the halls this year.
But Hormann saw it coming, even if few others did.
After going 15-1 with a combination 3A varsity/junior varsity schedule in 2003, and then 8-4 with a second-place league finish in 2004 in 4A, most of the pieces were already in place two years into the school’s existence.
Now, after a couple of timely transfers and a taste of success, the Cougars are in position to challenge for Cherokee Trail’s first state title.
“That first year set the stage,” Hormann said. “We immediately had good leadership on the team. But it starts with the administration. They are very supportive of athletics, and we see the principal (Mary Jarvis) at a lot of our games.”
The Cougars are treating Jarvis and a growing legion of fans to a good time.
Hormann rotates three pitchers with ERAs under 2.00 and just two combined losses. The team’s batting average for the season is .407, and the defense has committed just 15 errors in 17 games and has a fielding percentage of .950.
Monday’s victory over 5A Brighton avenged the only league loss of the season, and the only other defeat came against Pomona, ranked sixth in 5A. Hormann schedules every nonleague game against bigger schools, and Cherokee Trail has outscored opponents 176-35 this season.
Team co-captains Heather Hansen and Brittney Chavez – along with Kansas transfer Kay Norte, Smoky Hill transfer Brooke Bails and the rest of lineup – have taken turns ripping opposing pitchers.
Hansen has a .547 batting average with 36 RBIs, and she leads all classifications with eight home runs – “and these aren’t the in-the-park kind; these are going over the fence,” Hormann said.
Hansen, who also has a 1.65 ERA and a 6-0 record, bats third. But this is what opposing pitchers see: Stephanie Thurston leads off with a .481 average, then Norte at .352, followed by Hansen, cleanup hitter Bails (.489), Chavez (.535), Michelle Cuellar (.385 with nine doubles) and sophomore Christina Blanton (.568).
“At the 4A level, you usually have three outs at 7-8-9 in the order. (The Cougars) are not three outs. Their 7-8-9 batters are as good as the top of the lineup,” Brighton coach Bruce Stricklett said. “And they are deep with pitching. You can’t tell their first two (Thurston and Norte) apart, and their third (Hansen) will win 90 percent of her games.”
Those kind of numbers have equaled success, and that success has garnered attention inside the school and out. The tennis and golf teams won league titles this fall, and the girls basketball team tied for a league title last winter. But softball is the top Cougar at Cherokee Trail.
“They are starting a rich tradition of winning, and other teams are following,” Jarvis said. “You open a brand-new school and it sometimes take years to be in the hunt for the state playoffs. But they are doing it.”
The players agree.
“A lot of teachers come up and say they are rooting for us,” Chavez said. “It seems like we are the best there.”
Added Hansen: “I love it. I love how well we are doing. We get a lot of attention for it, and it’s an awesome feeling.”
It also had to be an awesome feeling when Norte chose Cherokee Trail over Grandview, and Bails switched from Smoky Hill without any repercussions from the Colorado High School Activities Association. Bails lived in Cherokee Trail’s attendance area when she was a freshman but opted to go to Smoky Hill. After being cleared by both schools, the league and the CHSAA, Bails transferred to Cherokee Trail.
“That was the icing on the cake,” Hormann said.
