Aurora – It was one of only two solid hits all game, but everyone on both sides knew what it meant.
Brooklyn Fields clobbered a line-drive home run to center field in the top of the sixth inning Saturday to give Eaglecrest a 1-0 victory over Pomona in the Class 5A championship at the Aurora Sports Complex.
Fields’ big swing came against her good friend, Pomona’s Jenn Brock, and gave the Raptors their first softball title and third overall championship in school history.
“Once she hit it, I knew in my heart that we won,” Eaglecrest pitcher Alyssa Velazquez said.
Even Brock agreed.
“I knew it would be exactly one run. Whoever scored first, I knew that was the ballgame,” said Brock, who struck out 40 batters in three playoff games. “It’s bittersweet. You want to see your friends do well, but not against you.”
For Fields, it seemed only a matter of time until she got hold of a good pitch.
“Everything she threw me was outside. I was just waiting for the right pitch, took my chances and swung,” Fields said. “Wow! Nobody thought we would make it. To all those people, look at us. Anything can happen.”
Eaglecrest (18-7), which came in as the No. 13 seed, had a streaky season. The Raptors dropped four of their first five games, then had winning streaks of three, four and six games. But they won four in a row to end the season, including a 1-0 win over top-seeded and previously undefeated Rocky Mountain in the semifinals.
“Gaining respect – I like doing that rather than starting with it and losing it,” Velazquez said. “Whether it was the sixth inning, the seventh or the 14th, I knew we could do it.”
Velazquez pitched eight shutouts in the final 11 games of the season.
The senior scattered three hits, including a two-out triple by Pomona catcher Ashli Holland in the bottom of the sixth. Velazquez forced a harmless grounder to end that threat.
Pomona (20-5) could not get a handle on Velazquez’s unpredictable speeds and locations.
“She goes soft away and hard in, and all that off-speed makes her hard to hit,” Pomona coach Jim Biddle said. “If you are going to lose a game, it is better to lose to a team that deserves it, and (Eaglecrest) deserved it.”
Brock, who struck out 14, gave up just Fields’ homer, a single by Velazquez and an infield single by freshman Brianna Backlund.
5A MVP
Brooklyn Fields, a senior catcher, hit the shot that will echo around the halls of Eaglecrest for years to come. Just when it looked like the championship game would stay tied for many innings, Fields’ sixth-inning home run, her third of the season, gave the Raptors their first softball title. Equally impressive was an extra-inning RBI in the quarterfinals to make it all possible.
CHAMPIONSHIP
EAGLECREST 1, POMONA 0
Eaglecrest 000 001 0 – 1 3 0
Pomona 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
Eaglecrest – Kirschmer ss 3-0-0-0, Romero 3b 3-0-0-0, Velazquez p 3-0-1-0, Fields c 3-1-1-1, Cross lf 2-0-0-0, Peterson 1b 3-0-0-0, Schlein rf 2-0-0-0, McCurdy cf 3-0-0-0, Backlund 2b 2-0-1-0. Totals 24-1-3-1.
Pomona – Holland c 3-0-1-0, Williams lf 3-0-0-0, Hamilton ss 3-0-1-0, Brock p 3-0-1-0, Booco 3b 3-0-0-0, J. Martinez 1b 3-0-0-0, Hunnel rf 2-0-0-0, Osiecki cf 2-0-0-0, K. Martinez 2b 2-0-0-0. Totals 24-0-3-0.
E – Hamilton. LOB – Eaglecrest 5; Pomona 3. 3B – Holland. HR – Fields, E, solo in sixth. Batteries – Brock and Holland; Velazquez and Fields. W – Velazquez (18-7). L – Brock (18-4). Time – 1:27.
SEMIFINALS
POMONA 2, CHERRY CREEK 0
Cherry Creek 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
Pomona 020 000 x – 2 6 1
Batteries – Henderson and May; Brock and Holland. W – Brock (18-3). L – Henderson (11-7). Highlights – Kostyo, CC, 1-for-3, doubles; Holland, P, 2-for-3, triple; Hamilton, P, 2-for-3, RBI; Brock, P, 12 strikeouts.
EAGLECREST 1, ROCKY MOUNTAIN 0
Eaglecrest 001 000 0 – 1 4 0
Rocky Mountain 000 000 0 – 0 6 0
Batteries – Velazquez and Fields; Berliner and McDaniel. W – Velazquez (17-7). L – Berliner (17-1). Highlights – Velazquez, E, 2-for-3, double; Cavallaro, RM, 2-for-4.
