ARVADA — After she loaded the bases with one out in the second inning Friday, Legacy softball pitcher Shelby Babcock realized she had a bit of the butterflies.
With all the accolades and two state championships to her credit, the nervousness seemed a bit out of place. But Babcock is one of those who believes that if the tension isn’t there, you probably don’t love the sport.
So the senior responded by mowing down the next 12 batters, then watched as the Legacy offense erupted. Soon, the top-ranked Lightning were celebrating a 6-0 whitewash of No. 2 Ralston Valley on the Mustangs’ home diamond in a highly-touted Class 5A nonleague game.
“I’m nervous before every game, and this one especially,” Babcock said. “I mean, obviously they wanted to beat us because we beat them in the state championship game.”
The pecking order certainly hasn’t changed in 5A, as the Lightning (1-0) proved Ralston Valley still has some catching up to do. What makes Legacy especially potent is that the Lightning not only has Babcock — she tossed a one-hitter and struck out 11, although she issued five walks — but a lineup that regularly scratches out more than the two or three runs requisite to win a pitchers’ duel.
“We have good hitters in every spot in our lineup, and I have confidence in every single one of them,” said Legacy center fielder Shae Rodriguez, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. “I know they can get the bat on the ball when we really need them to.”
Legacy took advantage of some uncharacteristically shoddy defense by Ralston Valley, scoring two unearned runs after two errors in the fourth and adding another on a wild pitch in the fifth. The Lightning then struck three times in the seventh with five singles against Mustangs starter Meaghan Murphy. Included was a two-run single by Rodriguez and a run-scoring hit by Kaitlyn Mattila.
“Right now we just don’t have the full nine batters,” Ralston Valley coach Wendy Davies said. “We’re still working on two or three where we need to feel comfortable in that position.”
Legacy 000 210 3 — 6 12 0
Ralston Valley 000 000 0 — 0 1 2
Legacy (ab-r-h-rbi) — Marcovecchio 2b 4-2-1-0, Rodriguez cf 4-2-2-2, Torrez c 4-1-2-0, Babcock p 4-0-2-0, Mattila 1b 4-0-1-1, Gaffin rf 4-0-1-1, Cordova 3b 3-0-0-0, Ball ss 3-0-2-0, Price lf 3-1-1-0. Totals 33-6-12-4.
Ralston Valley — Castanuela cf 3-0-0-0, Eldredge 1b 2-0-0-0, Hedrick 3b 1-0-0-0, Reeves ss 3-0-0-0, Murphy p 2-0-1-0, Sanzolone 2b 2-0-0-0, Towner c 3-0-0-0, Biddle dh 2-0-0-0, McHale rf 3-0-0-0. Totals 21-0-1-0.
E — Eldredge, Towner. LOB — Legacy 5, Ralston Valley 6. 2B — Murphy. 3B — Ball. SAC — Hedrick. Batteries — Babcock and Torrez; Murphy and Towner. W — Babcock (1-0). L — Murphy (1-1). T — 1:41.
