Aurora – An imperfect kid threw a perfect game on a brilliant Colorado fall afternoon.
Holly Jordan, Erie’s senior pitcher, capped her career and the Tigers’ sixth consecutive Class 3A softball championship Saturday afternoon at the Aurora Sports Complex with a 2-0 victory over Holy Family as she sat down 21 batters in succession.
And the ease in which Jordan dominated Holy Family was masterful – she struck out 12 batters, went to a 3-2 count only twice, allowed only three balls to make it to the outfield and probably had only one ball that could be classified as hit hard. It amounted to a harmless out to center field.
All of this in slightly more than an hour.
“It’s a good way to end the season,” Jordan said as Erie finished 20-4 – 19-4 with her on the mound. “And especially with a perfect game. Our team has worked so hard and coming here and finishing it and winning this is all they ever dreamed of.”
It was Erie’s 24th consecutive state tournament victory, a Colorado record, and Erie’s seventh title in eight years since the sport jumped to three classifications. With Jordan on the mound, Erie shut out six of its past eight tournament foes.
“(Holly) had a great day,” Erie coach Bob Bledsoe said. “She threw well against Limon (in a semifinal victory), a good hitting team, by the way.”
Jordan was in command from the outset. Holy Family’s leadoff hitter, Lara Mathewson, opened by flying out to center. As it turned out, Mathewson was the only Holy Family player to get a ball to the outfield; she flied out twice to center and once to left.
The rest of the Holy Family order put only four other balls in play as the Erie defense also recorded outs on three popups in foul territory, notably a diving stab on a low foul just beyond the left-handed batter’s box by Erie catcher Axie Estrada.
Estrada was as excited as anyone on the bench or in attendance, although she clearly had the best vantage point in the ballpark.
“It was awesome,” she said. “I love catching Holly. It’s an honor. She was blowing it by people.”
Fooling them, too – Jordan’s changeup had more than one Holy Family hitter off-balance.
While perfect games are significantly more unusual in baseball, Erie has experienced a few, according to Bledsoe, including by Jordan, but its defense also came through on a fairly sharp grounder to first baseman Janay Rahrich in the second inning and a bunt attempt in the fourth gobbled up by Jordan.
Jordan also scored the game’s first run. With two outs, she singled, then scored on an outfield error in left-center. Erie made it 2-0 in the second inning on a Holy Family infield error, a sacrifice and a run-scoring single by Samantha Welch.
It was tough to take for Holy Family (18-6), which was playing in its first title game and got a strong – but hard-luck – performance by pitcher Sara Baumberger, although it offered well wishes and respect afterward.
“They did a great job,” Holy Family coach Glen Ramos said. “It was outstanding. You don’t take anything away from a pitcher that’s hot. And give credit to her catcher.”
Jordan admitted she has flaws, but none was noticed Saturday.
“We weren’t talking about it, but we all wanted to do it,” she said. “Nobody’s perfect. But it’s every pitcher’s dream to throw a perfect game.”
3A MVP
Holly Jordan, a senior pitcher, twirled a perfect game in the 3A final, a 2-0 victory over Holy Family, as Erie won its sixth consecutive Colorado title and seventh in eight years, the most in state history. Jordan struck out 12 batters, permitted only three balls to the outfield and finished her season 19-4.
CHAMPIONSHIP
ERIE 2, HOLY FAMILY 0
Holy Family 000 000 0 – 0 0 2
Erie 110 000 x – 2 5 0
Holy Family – Mathewson 2b 3-0-0-0, McGinnis rf 3-0-0-0, Halligan ss 3-0-0-0, Hollick 3b 2-0-0-0, Boothe lf 2-0-0-0, Johnson 1b 2-0-0-0, Falletta c 2-0-0-0, Sommers dh 1-0-0-0, Talkington ph 1-0-0-0, Balzen cf 2-0-0-0, Baumberger p 0-0-0-0. Totals 21-0-0-0.
Erie – Balderrama ss 3-0-0-0, Ortega cf 3-0-1-0, Jordan p 3-1-1-0, Rahrich 1b 3-0-1-0, Willert 3b 3-0-1-0, Estrada c 3-0-0-0, Madrid 2b 3-1-0-0, Parker dh 1-0-0-0, Welch rf 2-0-1-1, Nichols lf 0-0-0-0. Totals 24-2-5-1.
E – Balzen, Halligan. LOB – Holy Family 0, Erie 4. SAC – Parker.
2B – Willert.
Batteries – Baumberger and Falletta; Jordan and Estrada. W – Jordan (19-4). L – Baumberger (8-3). WP – Baumberger.
SEMIFINALS
ERIE 9, LIMON 3
Erie 310 020 3 – 9 11 2
Limon 000 030 0 – 3 5 4
Jordan and Estrada; Dutton and Sandersfield. W – Jordan (18-4). L – Dutton. Highlights – Balderrama, E, 3-for-5, 2 runs, 1 RBI; Estrada, E, 2-for-4.
HOLY FAMILY 5, ROOSEVELT 0
Holy Family 000 000 005 – 5 9 0
Roosevelt 000 000 000 – 0 3 2
Baumberger and Falletta; Docheff and Olinger. W – Baumberger (8-2). L – Docheff. HR – Hollick, two on in ninth.
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-820-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
