AURORA — The door of opportunity opened wide for Ralston Valley on Friday.
The Mustangs walked through Saturday.
The third-seeded Jefferson County League champions won their second Class 4A softball title with a 2-0 win over upstart No. 9 seed Pueblo Central at Aurora Sports Park.
“We honestly believed (defending champion) Windsor and (top-seeded) Mullen would be in the finals,” Ralston Valley leadoff hitter Danielle Jagodzinski said. “It was just a great feeling when they weren’t there, we really didn’t know what to think.”
Windsor and Mullen bowed out in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Ralston Valley (21-4), which beat Pueblo East 1-0 in 2002 for its other title, graduates just four seniors and brings back perhaps its most important piece of the puzzle, sophomore pitcher Meaghan Murphy.
Murphy baffled the Wildcats’ hitters, allowing just three hits and striking out nine en route to her 19th victory of the season.
“I knew that my defense was there to back me up every single play,” said Murphy, who was named the Class 4A most valuable player by The Denver Post. “Just told everyone to have no doubt in themselves and know that we are good and just treat this like a normal game.”
Said Pueblo Central coach Larry Romero, who guided the Wildcats to their first title game, of Murphy: “She never got anything real close to the plate, where you could do a lot of damage. It was inner half, outer half and we didn’t make the adjustments we would have liked. But credit to her, she did a fantastic job.”
Murphy did her part, and the Mustangs’ offense finally scored a run against Central starter Kayla Dionese in the fifth inning.
Jagodzinski reached on an error, moved to second on a fielder’s choice, and then came home when left fielder Alexa Montoya couldn’t field Kelley Reeves’ single cleanly.
“The time was going to come, we just needed to string some hits together, and we knew good things were going to happen,” Jagodzinski said. “I didn’t even see the ball go through, and Coach (Wendy Davies) told me to get up and go home.”
Jagodzinski would drive in the Mustangs’ second run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth.
Ralston Valley eight-hole hitter Kristen Felten went 2-for-2 and scored the insurance run in the sixth.
CLASS 4A MVP
Meaghan Murphy, soph., Ralston Valley: Murphy was stellar in the circle for the Mustangs, allowing just three hits and striking out 10 Wildcats. Note to the rest of Class 4A: This is what you have to look forward to for the next two seasons.
RALSTON VALLEY 2, PUEBLO CENTRAL 0
Pueblo Central 000 000 0 – 0 3 2
Ralston Valley 000 011 x – 2 7 2
Pueblo Central – Pacheco ss 2-0-0-0, Romero 3b 2-0-1-0, Dionese p 3-0-1-0, Cordova cr 0-0-0-0, Oliva c 2-0-0-0, Carrillo 2b 3-0-0-0, Vasquez cf 3-0-0-0, Vigil rf 2-0-0-0, Ogaz ph 1-0-0-0, Esparsen 1b 3-0-1-0, Batchelder dp 2-0-0-0, Cordova ph 1-0-0-0, Montoya lf 0-0-0-0. Totals 24-0-3-0.
Ralston Valley – Jagodzinski cf 3-1-0-1, Donahue rf 4-0-1-0, Reeves ss 1-0-1-0, Lucas c 3-0-1-0, Murphy p 3-0-1-0, Hedrick 3b 1-0-0-0, Strauss 1b 3-0-0-0, Felten 2b 2-1-2-0, Bell dp 2-0-1-0, Heller lf 0-0-0-0. Totals 22-2-7-1.
E – Pacheco, Montoya; Reeves 2. LOB – Pueblo Central 6; Ralston Valley 8. SAC – Romero; Reeves, Bell, Jagodzinski.
Batteries – Dionese and Oliva; Murphy and Lucas. W – Murphy (19-4). L – Dionese (15-5). WP – Dionese. Time – 1:17.
SEMIFINALS
PUEBLO CENTRAL 4, GREELEY WEST 1
Greeley West 100 000 0 – 1 2 1
Pueblo Central 002 020 x – 4 6 0
Miller and Ameling; Dionese and Oliva. W – Dionese (14-5), 10 K’s. L – Miller. HR – Tellez, GW, solo in first. Highlights – Romero, PC, 2-for-4, run scored, stolen base; Carrillo, PC, 1-for-3, 2 RBIs; Ameling, GW, 1-for-3.
RALSTON VALLEY 6, CHEROKEE TRAIL 3
Ralston Valley 001 220 1 – 6 11 1
Cherokee Trail 000 003 0 – 3 2 2
Murphy and Lucas; Bok and Blanton. W – Murphy (18-4). L – Bok. HR – Strauss, RV, one on in fourth; Dougal, CT, two on in sixth. Highlights – Jagodzinski, RV, 2-for-4, run scored; Lucas, RV, 2-for-4, 2B, run scored; Dougal, CT, 2-for-3, HR, 3 RBIs.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
