ERIE — Gaining notoriety has been a gradual process for the Rock Canyon softball team, which has taken baby steps in establishing its program.
But it appears the Jaguars officially have arrived.
They earned the No. 3 seed in Class 5A regionals and validated that Saturday by cruising to two wins in Region 5 play at Erie Community Park, securing a trip to the state tournament and a likely lofty seed.
The Jaguars (17-4) pummeled Palmer 12-0 before holding off Dakota Ridge 4-2 to punch their ticket to state.
“We’re struggling to get respect, even within our own conference,” Rock Canyon coach Debbie Kortbawi said. “Anything we can get, the girls will take it.”
Perhaps the Jaguars, champions of the Continental League, are in the midst of changing the way the program is perceived. In the win against Dakota Ridge (16-6), Melanie White struck out nine and overcame a two-run error to escape with the win.
The Jaguars built their lead with three runs in the fourth, featuring an RBI single by No. 9 hitter Hannah Gunther that went in and out of the glove of center fielder Morgan Wilhelm and a two-run single by catcher Zayne Blumberg.
“I have a lot of confidence in my teammates; they’re amazing,” White said. “We’ve been trying to gain respect, and this should gain us even more. We’re pumped up, like, ‘Yes, we can do this.’ “
Blumberg went 3-for-4 with the two RBIs to help Rock Canyon atone for a 2-1 regular-season loss to Dakota Ridge. Lexie Chavez had three of Dakota Ridge’s five hits.
“What’s changed is, now it’s a total team effort,” Kortbawi said. “We have hitting 1-through-9, and our fielding has improved immensely. In the past, we always had a couple holes.”
Fort Collins (18-4) also qualified for state by beating Dakota Ridge 12-2 in the day’s third round after losing to the Eagles 5-4 in Round 1.
The 4A Region 3 playoffs also were held at the complex, with host Erie (18-3) advancing unscathed with a 16-1 win against Thompson Valley and 6-2 victory over Pueblo South. The Tigers are aiming for their 13th straight title-game appearance, but the previous 12 were in 3A.
“It’s definitely a different feeling not being the No. 1 team,” Erie catcher Makayla Kovac said.
Dakota Ridge 000 002 0 — 2 5 1
Rock Canyon 000 310 x — 4 10 2
Dakota Ridge (ab-r-h-rbi) — Wilhelm cf 4-0-1-0, Berens 1b 3-0-0-0, Chavez 3b 4-1-3-0, Mammenga dh 4-0-0-0, Ferrin 2b 2-1-0-0, York lf 3-0-1-0, Sharp ss 3-0-0-0, Vaage c 3-0-0-0, Maestas rf 2-0-0-0. Totals 28-2-5-0.
Rock Canyon — Wakefield 3b 2-0-0-0, Blumberg c 4-0-3-2, Miller 2b 3-0-0-0, McCloskey cf 3-0-0-0, Pettaway lf 3-0-1-0, Cook dh 3-0-1-0, Dunn ss 0-1-0-0, Lieber 1b 3-1-1-0, White p 3-0-2-0, Yacks cr 0-1-0-0, Gunther rf 3-1-2-1. Totals 27-4-10-3.
E — Ferrin, Lieber, Miller. LOB — Dakota Ridge 7, Rock Canyon 8. SB — Blumberg, Dunn. CS — McCloskey. Batteries — Stead and Vaage; White and Blumberg. W — White (14-4). L — Stead (6-2). T — 1:54.
