Aurora – The Windsor Wizards mixed a winning potion of big bats, strong arms and a little luck for their first state softball title, a 6-4 victory Monday at the Aurora Sports Complex over Northern League foe Berthoud in the Class 4A championship game.
“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” said Windsor coach Sandi Cumings, who guided the Wizards (23-2) to their first team title since 1995 and can now match husband Nic for state titles in the house. Nic Cumings won the 1996 Class 4A state cross country title at Windsor. “My heart is still beating pretty quickly.”
The game was tied 4-4 with two out in the bottom of the sixth with Alena Martinez, who had singled, on third base.
Up stepped Mallory Duran. The junior, who was already 2-for-3 and had hit the ball hard each time up, crushed an 0-1 Kassandra Haubert offering over the left-center field fence to give the Wizards the victory.
“I really thought they were going to walk me once (Berthoud) Coach (Dick Klocek) walked out there,” said Duran, who was named the tournament’s MVP by The Denver Post. “I know the pitcher and the catcher, and in the end I’m not surprised they came at me.”
Said Klocek, when asked if there were any second thoughts of pitching to Duran: “Yes. But we thought (Haubert) could hit her spots and pitch inside to her, and she put one over the plate. We know Mallory and we know how she can hit the ball. What we should have done was give her four balls and sent her to first.”
The Windsor bats were silenced for the first three innings as Haubert, who beat the Wizards 4-2 on Aug. 31, looked to be cruising.
It all fell apart for Berthoud (22-3) in the bottom of the fourth. Sporting a 3-0 lead, Haubert walked Megan Wilkinson to lead off the inning and then gave up a single to Dani Finkelstein. With runners on second and third, Erin Wilkinson singled up the middle to cut the lead to 3-2.
Wilkinson, who advanced to third on the throw home, came home one batter later. She tagged up on Kelsey Tillery’s foul ball that Berthoud’s Amanda Stoesz caught by the first-base dugout, and beat the throw home.
4A SOFTBALL MVP
Her coach is not shy about bragging about her, and now we all know why. Center fielder Mallory Duran can just flat bring it, at the plate and in the field. The junior, who went 3-for-4 in the title game, smacked the game-winning home run over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the sixth to give the Wizards their first state softball title. Her strong arm from center field also prevented at least two Spartans runners from coming home.
FINALS
Berthoud 201 001 0 – 4 11 1
Windsor 000 312 x – 6 10 2
Berthoud – Allen ss 4-2-2-0, Heronema c 4-0-2-0, Murtagh cr 0-1-0-0, Smith cf 2-0-0-0, Cervantes 3b 4-0-2-1, Haubert p 3-0-2-2, Lucero 2b 3-0-0-0, Stoesz 1b 3-1-1-0, Fiske rf 3-0-0-0, Ekart lf 3-0-2-0. Totals 29-4-11-3.
Windsor – Duran cf 4-2-3-2, M. Wilkinson dp 1-1-0-0, Finkelstein ss 3-1-2-1, E. Wilkinson c 2-1-1-2, Tillery 1b 2-0-0-1, O’Connor lf 3-0-1-0, Neely p 3-0-2-0, Klimek cr 0-0-0-0, Fisbeck 2b 2-0-0-0, Martinez 3b 3-1-1-0, Schlotthauer Flex/rf 0-0-0-0. Totals 23-6-10-6.
E – Lucero; Martinez, Finkelstein. LOB – Berthoud 5; Windsor 5. HR – Duran, one on in sixth. SAC – Smith 2; M. Wilkinson, Tillery. DP – Berthoud 2; Windsor 2.
Batteries – Haubert and Heronema; Neely and E. Wilkinson. W – Neely (15-1). L – Haubert (20-2). PB – Heronema. HBP – Fisbeck (by Haubert in the fourth). T – 1:27.
SEMIFINALS
Ralston Valley 000 100 1 – 2 5 2
Berthoud 000 124 x – 7 9 2
Jenks and Lucas; Haubert and Heronema. W – Haubert (20-1). L – Jenks (21-3). HR – Felton, RV, solo in fourth. Highlights – Smith, B, 3-for-4, run scored, 2 RBIs; Haubert, B, 2-for-3, run scored, RBI; Stoesz, B, 2-for-3, 2 runs scored, RBI; Felton, RV, 2-for-3, run scored, RBI; Jenks, RV, 2-for-3, run scored.
Conifer 100 010 0 – 2 5 2
Windsor 042 000 0 – 6 7 1
Russell and Benedetti; Neely and E. Wilkinson. W – Neely (14-1). L – Russell (17-6). Highlights – Tellery, W, 2-for-3, 2 3Bs, BB, 2 runs scored; Fisbeck, W, 1-for-3, 2 RBIs; M. Wilkinson, W, 1-for-2, 2 RBIs; Motte, C, 1-for-4, runs scored, SB; Correll, C, 1-for-3, SAC, RBI.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
