Arvada – Megan Johnson did not care her Arvada West Wildcats and the opposing Erie Tigers had accumulated enough championship hardware to fill a small moving van.
She was too busy helping Arvada West rally from a four-run deficit and overtake Erie for a 7-5 victory Saturday at Lutz Fields.
The Wildcats (10-2) won six Class 5A titles from 1993 to 2001, and the Tigers (6-4) own a state-best seven titles, including the past six 3A championships. Only four-time champion Boulder and three-time winner Mullen come close to that dominance. Four other teams have won two state titles.
But those numbers were of no importance to Johnson. What mattered to her and Arvada West was Johnson’s two-RBI single that tied the score at 5 in the fourth inning before Elizabeth Kramer and Mikey Kenney gave the Wildcats a lead they didn’t relinquish.
“We were just trying to put the ball in play,” said Johnson, who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. “We didn’t think anything about the history. It was just another team, just another game.”
The state’s two benchmark programs put on a show that looked like it might be all Tigers in the early going.
Erie’s Jordan Ruiz drew a walk from Elizabeth Kramer, the Wildcats’ starting pitcher, and Ruiz soon scored on a wild pitch. After a couple of infield errors, another wild pitch and an RBI single from Axie Estrada, the Tigers led 4-0.
Kenney put the Wildcats, No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, on the board in the bottom of the first with a triple that rocketed over the head of Erie’s right fielder and scored Kramer. The teams added another run each before Christy Grubbs replaced Kramer in the pitching circle.
Grubbs scattered seven hits without giving up a run, despite a late scare, and the Arvada West offense hit its stride at the right time.
“When I go in and we’re down, I just try to pick the team up. I try to pick them up, keep them confident and let them know the game isn’t over yet,” Grubbs said.
Arvada West’s Candice Kauffman and Caity Wambeke made certain the game wasn’t over with inning-opening singles to set up Johnson’s bases-loaded shot to right field. Kramer brought the go-ahead runner home, and Kenney provided some insurance with a follow-up RBI single.
The Tigers, No. 1 in 3A and always ready to schedule the best competition, loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Grubbs forced consecutive groundouts to end the threat.
“It didn’t seem like we got the timely hit when we had runners in scoring position….Maybe we respected them too much,” Erie coach Bob Bledsoe said.
Erie 410 000 0 – 5 11 2
Arvada West 101 500 x – 7 9 4
Erie – Ruiz 2b 3-1-0-0, Rieder rf 4-2-2-0, Ortega ss 4-0-3-0, Rahrich 1b 4-0-1-0, Estrada c 4-1-2-1, Nichols lf 4-0-1-0, B. Baker cf 3-0-1-0, Parker 3b 4-0-1-0, Smith p 4-0-0-0, Zahn cr 0-1-0-0. Totals 34-5-11-1.
Arvada West – Johnson ss 4-2-3-2, N. Baker rf 4-0-1-0, Kramer p-1b 2-1-1-1, Kenney cf 4-0-2-2, Kauffman 4-0-1-0, Wambeke 3b 4-1-1-0, Grubbs 1b-p 2-0-0-0, DeLorenzo dh 2-1-0-0, Schoepflin 2b 1-0-0-0, Adams cr 0-1-0-0, Carlson dh 1-1-0-0. Totals 28-7-9-5.
E – Ortega 2; Wambeke 2, Kramer, Schoepflin. LOB – Erie 10; Arvada West 8. SB – Nichols. SAC – Grubbs.
3B – Ortega; Kenney.
Batteries – Smith and Estrada; Kramer, Grubbs (3) and Kauffman. W – Grubbs (6-0). L – Smith (6-3). WP – Smith; Kramer 2. HBP – B. Baker, E, (by Kramer). T – 2:03.
