Lakewood – Relief pitcher Melissa Ryba’s triple to right-center field in the top of the eighth inning Saturday afternoon sparked a rally that rocketed the Highlands Ranch Falcons past the Bear Creek Bears 4-1 in the Class 5A District 8 championship game.
Both the Falcons (19-2) and the Bears (16-5) advanced to the regionals Friday at the Aurora Sports Complex. Seeding will be announced today by the Colorado High School Activities Association.
Ryba, a sophomore who relieved senior Cassie Caley (12-1) one out into the fifth inning, scored the go-ahead run 10 pitches later, when junior shortstop Kailee Vessey reached first base on a third-strike passed ball by Bears catcher Amanda Hensley, a freshman, for a 2-1 lead.
“Coach said I needed to get on,” said Ryba (6-1), the Falcons lead-off hitter. “I did everything that I could to get on.”
Ryba’s shot came off a fastball from senior Kaleigh Starr (11-3), a right-hander whose fastball has been clocked at up to 61 mph. Hensley said Starr threw her a change-up.
Raven Richardson moved Hensley to third on an infield hit to shortstop, and Hensley scored for a 3-1 lead on a infield error. Richardson followed Hensley across the plate for the final run, when Kamee Vessey, a freshman second baseman, hit into a fielder’s choice to Bears’ shortstop Kelley Pearson. Bear Creek went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
“That was huge,” Falcons’ coach Bruce Wright said of the passed ball on Hensley. “And, seeding-wise, this was huge. I don’t see us being seeded any lower than third. And Melissa, she just buckled down and shut ’em down.”
Bear Creek, which tied Arvada West and Pomona as champion of the Jefferson County League, struck first in the first inning, when first baseman Mallorie Sulaski doubled to center and Hensley drove her home with a single down the left-field line. The Falcons, who shared the Continental title with Mountain Vista and Ponderosa, tied it at 1 as Vessey led off with a triple to right-center and scored on a passed ball.
Bear Creek nearly rallied in the bottom of the seventh when Cari Thompson had a lead-off triple to center. Hensley next reached after Richardson did not throw to first or third to try to keep Thompson from scoring. Ryba then fanned Pearson on a 1-2 count and center fielder Kate Struble hit a line drive to Brooke Vagts at first.
“This is what we expected of two teams that shared league championships,” said Bears coach Mark Roberts, who led the Douglas County Huskies to the 1994 state championship. “We didn’t execute when we had opportunities.”
Highlands Ranch 100 000 03 – 4 5 4
Bear Creek 100 000 00 – 1 5 3
Highlands Ranch – Ryba cf-p 4-1-1-0, Lopez rf 4-0-0-0, Kailee Vessey ss 4-1-2-0, Richardson 3b 4-1-1-1, Caley p 4-0-0-0, Kamee Vessey 2b 4-1-1-0, York dh 3-0-0-0, Larson lf 3-0-0-0, Vagts 1b 3-0-0-0. Totals 33-4-5-1
Bear Creek – Starr p 4-0-0-0, Thompson 3b 4-0-1-0, Sulaski 1b 4-1-1-0, Hensley c 4-0-1-1, Pearson ss 4-0-0-0, Struble cf 4-0-0-0, Pacheco lf 3-0-0-0, Carlson rf 3-0-0-0, Atencio 2b-rf 3-0-1-0. Totals 33-1-5-1.
E – Kailee Vessey, Thompson, Atencio, Hensley, Larson, York, Pearson. LOB – Highlands Ranch 6, Bear Creek 9. SB – Pacheco.
2B – Sulaski. 3B – Ryba, Kailee Vessey, Kamee Vessey; Thompson.
Batteries – Cassie Caley (4), Melissa Ryba and VerWoert; Kaleigh Starr and Hensley. W – Ryba (6-1). L – Starr (11-3).
Coming up
The Colorado High School Activities Association will release softball pairings today for next weekend’s postseason rounds.
Sixteen teams remain in each of the three classifications.
At the Aurora Sports Complex, there will be two rounds of regionals Friday with the semifinals and championship games Saturday.
