WHEAT RIDGE — There is a possibility most of Golden’s softball players weren’t even born the last time the Demons defeated rival Wheat Ridge on the softball field.
“I honestly have no idea when Golden last beat Wheat Ridge, no idea,” Golden softball coach Chad Hebers said after the Demons defeated the Farmers 13-3 in five innings Saturday morning on Wheat Ridge’s home field. “It was long before I was here.”
Hebers in is in sixth year with the Demons program. The MaxPreps.com softball archive of scores only dates back to 2009. Over the previous eight meetings, Wheat Ridge had outscored Golden 97-4.
Golden’s Shayne Abrams crosses home plate ahead of a tag by Wheat Ridge’s Kate Anderson. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Demons had strong teams in the early 2000s, including a trip to the Class 5A state semifinals. That is likely the last time Golden defeated Wheat Ridge. The Farmers have won six state titles — two in 5A and four in 4A — since 2002.
“After a win like this — Wheat Ridge has some history behind them — now there is something to talk about,” Hebers said of his squad that improved to 11-3 on the season. “When we show up, we’re good. I love our chances.”
Golden (1-1 in 4A Jeffco) dropped its conference opener to three-time defending 4A state champion Valor Christian 4-1 on Tuesday. However, the Demons bats didn’t waste anytime getting going Saturday morning.
Sophomore Makenzie Middleton belted a 3-run home run in the top of the first inning to get things going. She added a 2-run home run in the top of the third inning to extend Golden’s lead to 6-0.
Golden sophomore Makenzie Middleton belted a pair of HRs against Wheat Ridge. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“When I go up to hit I don’t really try,” Makenzie said of thinking about hitting home runs when she steps up to the plate. “I just try to hit it. Sometimes it goes over and sometimes it doesn’t. Today I got lucky.”
Makenzie might be more good than lucky. She has nine home runs on the season while driving in 21 runs through the Demons’ first 14 games.
Not to be outdone, Makenzie’s twin sister Makayla put an exclamation point on the victory. Golden’s leadoff batter had already scored twice with a single and double. Makayla ripped a grand slam in the top of the fifth inning to widen the Demons’ lead to 13-2.
“I was just hoping to get a base hit to score a couple of runs,” Middleton said of her at-bat with the bases loaded. “I didn’t want to pop it up or hit it right at a player. The pitch was right there.”
Golden’s Wonder Twins combined to go 5-for-8 from the plate with 9 RBIs and scored five runs. While Makayla said the identical twins don’t have a catchy nickname, that might be coming soon for the dynamic duo.
The Middleton twins weren’t the lone Demons who got the bats going against the three different pitchers Wheat Ridge that threw against Golden. Senior Madison Campbell was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, senior Megan Feiner was 2-for-3 from the plate and junior Cassidy Paulson had a trio of singles. Paulson also picked up the complete-game victory on the mound scattering five Farmer hits.
“They played very unselfish today,” Hebers said.
Wheat Ridge junior Julia Shipley and senior Kate Anderson both drove in a run for the Farmers (7-9, 1-2). Wheat Ridge got on the board with a 2-run bottom of the fourth inning, but Golden responded with a 6-run top of the fifth inning to help induce the 10-run mercy rule.
“This is the offense we have,” Hebers said. “When we show up, we show up. It can be impressive and explosive.”
Golden has the inside track to grab second-place and automatic postseason bid in the league behind Valor. The Demons’ biggest challenge could come at home next Saturday against D’Evelyn (8-4, 1-0). Wheat Ridge will attempt to get back on track and end its 2-game losing streak at home Thursday against Evergreen.
Golden’s Madison Campbell stretches to get out Wheat Ridge’s Julia Shipley at first base. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
MONUMENT — It would be hard to argue that Lewis-Palmer and Eaton are the two best volleyball programs in the state over the last four years.
The Reds have claimed the last four Class 3A state titles while the Rangers have taken three of the last four in 4A.
So when the two teams met at Lewis-Palmer High School on Friday, expectations were high for a what could’ve been an epic showdown between the top-ranked schools in their respective classes.
The first set delivered. And then Lewis-Palmer worked fast.
The Rangers came away with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-18, 25-19) sweep over the Reds in a convincing win that surprised even the Lewis-Palmer players.
“Yeah, especially coming from the first set,” senior Jadie DeLange said. “We knew the next two or three sets were going to be a battle. We have to work hard. It was kind of a relief to see that we can (play) a team so well.”
Eaton (10-1 overall) showed up ready to play, jumping out to a 11-7 lead at one point in the first set. But the Rangers (11-0) got timely kills from Trinity Jackson, who led the team with eight on the day, and seized momentum to grab a 17-14 lead.
“Having it being so close, we knew we had to keep up the intensity,” Jackson said. “We thought they were going to come at us more.”
A joint block from Adelaide Week and Riley Putnicki put the Rangers at set point, but a a kill from Eaton’s Makenzie Harris tied it up.
The teams traded points until the Rangers finally went up 28-26, winning the set and taking early control of the match.
“I knew we weren’t playing our best,” Lewis-Palmer coach Wade Baxter said. “We had a big match that took a lot out of us on Thursday. Valor was tough and there were a lot of long points. Our girls were tired.”
After the first set, they woke up.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
The Rangers built a 12-6 lead in the second set and Eaton wasn’t doing itself any favors as miscommunication led to several unforced errors.
“I don’t they served extremely tough at us where we couldn’t defend,” Eaton coach Gwen Forster said. “We just looked unaware. The communication piece just left us.”
Feek ended the second with a kill, giving the home crowd the feeling that a win was imminent.
The third set followed the pattern of the second as the Rangers jumped out to a big lead early. The hole proved to be too much for the Reds to dig out and in what could be the toughest test of its regular season, Lewis-Palmer looked ready to make a run at another state title.
“We have so much respect for them,” DeLange said. “They give us such good competition. This is a match we’ve been looking forward to for a while now. We’re always excited to play Eaton.”
The Rangers will head to Pine Creek on Tuesday before starting league play against No. 9 Palmer Ridge.
The Reds also begin league play this week when they head to Brush on Tuesday.
No. 9 Thomas Jefferson softball upset No. 5 Pueblo West 13-2 in five innings Saturday.
“We’ve lost to them by run-rule the last three years,” Thomas Jefferson coach Kyler Jackson said. “It’s been due to nerves, and I think this year we really understood how good we were. It was just a matter of playing and not letting the moment get to us.”
Thomas Jefferson scored a total of nine runs in the third and fourth innings to take down the Cyclones. The offense hit four homeruns, bringing the season total to 31.
“It’s what we’ve been doing all year,” Jackson said. “We’ve got five girls that can hit the ball out of any park that we play in.”
Daija Robbins had five runs-batted-in to pace the Spartans.
Thomas Jefferson’s hot start was expected by Jackson and his team. But, the lone blemish — a 6-5 loss to Arapahoe — is still on Jackson’s mind.
“It was our expectation,” Jackson said. “We’ve gotten off to really good starts the last couple of years, but we haven’t been able to finish. 14-1 is a little disappointing. We expected to be 15-0, but we’ll take it for now.
“We’ve got greater goals than the regular season.”
Gilpin County football coach Craig Ball comes from a football background and a football family.
Ball grew up in southeast Texas where he played football for Ed Peveto at Orangefield High School. Peveto is in the Southeast Texas Coaches Hall of Fame. In his fourth year as the head coach at Gilpin County, Ball brings a lot of his Texas background to the program.
He likes to say that he’s brought a piece of southeast Texas with him to the mountains of Colorado.
But that isn’t the only thing that he brought. Ball is a family man. Through his time as a high school player in Texas, a college player at Lamar University and a coach at Gilpin County, he has always had his family, specifically his parents, there to support him.
“Once my kids started growing up and getting into school, I started coaching up here,” Ball said. “So (my dad) had been to all of my games as a coach since then.”
His father James loved the games. He was there to watch Craig coach a second grade squad which featured Jack Ball. Jack is James’ grandson and Craig’s son.
This year, Jack and his friends are seniors for the Eagles. Craig calls the plays. Jack executes them. And James watched from the side.
A football family through and through.
That family was struck by tragedy in the third quarter of its 60-50 win over Simla on Sept. 9.
A young Craig Ball (left) with his father James. (Photo courtesy of Craig Ball)
James suffered a heart attack during the game and passed away. He died doing what loved most at the late stage of his life. He was watching his son coach and grandson play.
“(Craig’s) father was a big fan of the team and that’s why he was there,” Gilpin County athletic director Jeff Schuessler said. “He wanted to watch those boys play. That was his thing.”
What played out for Craig was a traumatic series of events. He had gotten word that his mother, Norma, had gotten something stuck in her chest and was choking. Paramedics decided to get her to a hospital so she was transported to St. Anthony’s in Lakewood.
With Norma being James’ primary caregiver, Craig’s wife Dr. Nahanni Freeman assumed the role for the rest of the day. At 87-years-old, the sight of his wife being transported away via an ambulance was scary in its own right for James.
“That part was shocking for my dad,” Craig said.
Craig was informed of the situation, but was not pulled away from the game. Norma was in the hands of medical professionals and the game still needed to be played.
At the beginning of the third quarter, the Eagles had intercepted a Simla pass in the end zone. On the ensuing play, the ball was given to Jack on a jet sweep. He took the ball 80 yards for a touchdown. Momentum was on Gilpin’s side.
But Craig was told then that another emergency was taking place. He was told that his father had fallen.
Craig turned the offense over to former Gilpin quarterback Chase Boulter.
“He probably knew the plays better than anybody so I handed him the clipboard,” Craig said. “He called the rest of the plays for the rest of the game.”
When Craig got to the area where James had been watching the game, he noticed a crowd of about 15 people, including Gilpin superintendent Dr. David Mackenzie and several members of the local sheriff’s office.
“The paramedics had just gotten there,” Craig recalls. “At first, no one knew exactly what it was and they didn’t inform me right then. It ended up being a heart attack and he had just collapsed and was laying there. By the time I got there, the paramedics were getting to work on him, trying to resuscitate him.”
One thing that really stuck out to him in that moment was the help from the opposing side. A woman that he was only introduced to as Jodi was in the area when James collapsed.
She was doing no less than anyone else around that was trying to provide aid.
She was a total stranger who was just there to watch the game as she had rooting interest for the visiting team.
“We had a lady, and I never found out her full name, but I was introduced to her as Jodi and she had a big Simla sweatshirt on,” Craig said. “She was from Simla and she was there when my dad collapsed and she was helping.”
Even in times when life and football can be intertwined, this was a reminder that regardless of stakes, life always takes the upper hand.
During the unfolding event, Schuessler could see from his vantage point that there was yet another emergency situation. He had watched the ambulance leave with Craig’s mother, but had no idea what was going on with this second issue.
“I didn’t know that it was Craig’s dad,” Schuessler said. “I had no idea. I just kept announcing because I didn’t know exactly what was going on, I just knew we had sheriff personnel and medical personnel taking care of the situation.”
By the start of the fourth quarter, James Ball had passed away.
“As a head coach, you certainly have a lot of commitment to your team,” Craig said. “And my dad would understand if I was to still be interested in my game throughout the whole process. It’s very difficult to not hear the cheers one way or another. It ended up being a shootout at the end.”
But this was family.
Craig sent word that Jack needed to come off the field.
“He had rushed for 133 yards and he didn’t play the fourth,” Craig said. “He came down to see his granddad and say goodbye.”
The Ball family made its way down to St. Anthony’s. Norma was still being evaluated and had no knowledge of the events that had taken place when she had left the field.
Word had gotten to Craig’s assistant coaches, and therefore the team, of what had happened. Jack, Nahanni and Craig’s other son Aiden were all on-site.
Now, they had to get to the hospital and break the news to Norma and Olivia, Craig’s daughter.
“It was very emotional,” Craig said. “My mom, at first, didn’t really want to believe it. She had been his caretaker for so long and they had been married for 53 years. The idea that she wouldn’t be there when he died had never been thought of.”
To say it was a shocking day for Craig and his family would be an understatement. The following Monday, he began the process of making funeral arrangements. He took the day off from school, but returned for practice.
Jack Craig and Austin Boulter. (Photo courtesy of Craig Ball)
He has a built-in support system in the form of 21 kids that he spends time with each and every day.
And in the midst of such tragedy, Craig never lost sight of the fact that James loved those boys just as much.
Austin Boulter is Craig’s Godson. He also knew James his entire life. He ran for an inspired 328 yards in the win over Simla.
Craig got word that when everything happened, it was Manny Gomez who assumed a leadership role on the field and kept the team together.
This wasn’t just Coach Ball who lost someone. The program as a whole lost a member of its family.
“Football gives you some strength in those times,” Craig said. “You don’t have to be blood to be family and that football team is my family.”
