Vista Ridge has found its new football coach. On Friday, athletic director Sam Baldwin confirmed to CHSAANow.com that Jason Cauley will command the Wolves’ sideline next fall.
Cauley spent one year at Scottsdale Christian in Arizona and was looking for the right place for his family to live. He looked at Colorado Springs and when the Vista Ridge job came open, he jumped at the chance.
“Originally I was just looking in the area of Colorado Springs,” Cauley said. “I saw it was a newer school, a bigger school and I liked the demographics of it. It was a great opportunity for my family as well to be a part of that community.”
Cauley’s Scottsdale team went 7-4 last season, but they scored an average of nearly 40 points per game. He made no secret of the fact that he intends for his version of the Wolves to play at a high tempo and put points on the board often.
“They’re going to play fast,” he said. “I’m an offensive guy, but I know defense wins championships. It’s exciting to me and I love putting pressure on opposing defenses.”
Cauley originally grew up in Alabama and cites former University of Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez as a major influence of his coaching systems.
LITTLETON — Dakota Ridge and Columbine baseball teams began Class 5A Jeffco League play in dramatic fashion Thursday afternoon.
After Dakota Ridge (7-7, 1-0 in 5A Jeffco) gave up a 5-1 lead heading to the seventh inning, senior Jake Sansburn saved the day with a walk-off, two-run home run to give the Eagles a thrilling 8-6 win in the conference opener.
Dakota Ridge senior Ryan Stohr had 13 strikeouts against Columbine, but actually had a no-decision after the Rebels took the lead with a five-run top of the seventh inning of the Eagles’ ace. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“It felt great,” Sansburn said of his walk-off blast over the wall in left field. “That’s my first high school spring home run. It was a great time to have it. I’m glad I was able to finish it.”
Columbine (3-7, 0-1) trailed until the Rebels batted around in the top of the seventh inning to eventually plate five runs to grab at 6-5 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Senior Jacob Gimbel, the Rebels’ starting pitcher, helped himself out with a solo home run off Dakota Ridge’s ace Ryan Stohr to start the seventh. Stohr had only given up one run on two hits through six innings. Columbine got to Stohr with three straight singles, a triple and a trio of wild pitches allowed three runs to score.
“My mindset the whole game was to attack, mix up my pitches and keep them on their toes,” said Stohr, who came out after hitting the maximum pitch count and striking out his 13th batter for the second out in the seventh. “That last inning I was trying to be too perfect and attacking with fastballs. They took advantage of it.”
Dakota Ridge junior Gabe Diaz took the hill and forced a groundout to get the final out in the top of the seventh. Then the Eagles’ offense went to work.
Columbine junior Eric Trujillo (17) forces out Dakota Ridge senior Henry Fox at second base Thursday afternoon. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“Crazy enough, I had full confidence in them,” Dakota Ridge coach Jeff Legault said of his thoughts after Columbine grabbed a 6-5 lead. “We’ve had a couple of great days of practice and have been hitting the ball well. They kind of had an attitude about them today and that is what I’ve been waiting for.”
Dakota Ridge senior Zach Parker faced an 0-2 count against Gimbel to lead off the inning, but drove a hanging curveball over the fence in center field to tie things up 6-6.
The Eagles ended up hitting four home runs on the day. Besides Parker and Sansburn going yard in the final inning, senior Alex Overlie hit a solo blast in the second inning and senior Ben Biffinger had a two-run home run in the fourth inning.
“We’ve been working on shorting up their swing with two strikes,” Legault said. “I think every home run was with two strikes.”
Senior Cade Akerfelds had a bunt infield single, but on the play senior Henry Fox was tagged out at third base for the first out of the bottom of the inning. However, the Eagles quickly ended the game with the big fly from Sansburn.
Columbine senior Jacob Gimbel pitched a complete game for the Rebels, but took the loss after giving up a pair of home runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Stohr —Air Force Academy commit — leads the team with 19 RBIs this season, but the Eagles proved in their league opener they have plenty of talent around Stohr this spring.
“We’ve been talking all year that Ryan has picked us up and won games for us,” Legault said. “Everyone else has to produce too. We picked up Ryan today and that’s a sign of a good team.”
Dakota Ridge returns to conference play Saturday against Pomona (2-10, 0-1). First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at All Star Park in Lakewood.
“It’s a three-week sprint right now,” Legault said of league play. “We’ll take the win and move on to Saturday.”
Columbine will try to end its four-game losing streak when the Rebels host Pomona at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 23.
“It’s a tough loss. (Stohr) pitched a heck of a game,” Columbine coach Brooks Roybal said. “We did a good job rallying obviously. We got some runs and put ourselves in position to win.”
Dakota Ridge second baseman Henry Fox (7) flips the ball to shortstop Jake Sansburn to get a force out at second base. The Eagles gave up a 5-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning, but Sansburn saved the day with a walk-off, two-run home run to give Dakota Ridge an 8-6 victory over rival Columbine. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
DENVER — Pablo Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, but it wasn’t enough as Wheat Ridge baseball scored seven runs in the seventh inning and beat D’Evelyn 13-5 on Thursday.
Shaylee Gailus had two golden opportunities for the Broomfield Eagles in Thursday’s first overtime period to erase the two-goal lead they gave up to Monarch.
MONTROSE — Katy Coffin scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the second half as Grand Junction girls soccer beat Montrose on Thursday.
The Tigers came out on top, 3-2, and are now 7-3 this season.
“Playing in Montrsoe is always a challenge,” Grand Junction caoch Joseph Graham said. “Their team plays with a lot of pride and plays hard until the end. The Montrose goalie made multiple great saves in the first half to keep us out of the back of the net.”
Grand Junction took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal by Dannon Yake, which was assisted by Dolcie Hanlon.
Montrose equalized when Josie Coulter scored from an assist by Caroline Graham.
Grand Junction went back up at 2-1 on a goal by Hanlon, who put a rebound home.
Again, Coulter tied the game at 2 for Montorse. The assist came from Montrose goalkeeper Taylor Ullman.
The game was tied at 2 at halftime before Coffin scored for the Tigers, from an assist by Hanlon.
Montrose is now 8-3 this season following the loss.
“We played hard the whole game and had a lot of dangerous opportunities, but had a hard time finding the back of the net,” Montrose coach Cassie Snyder said. “We have made growth every day and we intend to continue to grow. We will learn from this loss and be better the next time we play Grand Junction.”
Northridge has hired Erin Haussermann to be its next volleyball coach.
Haussermann comes to Northridge from Mead, where was an assistant last season. She has also coached club volleyball in Northern Colorado and Colorado Springs for a number of years.
Haussermann played college volleyball at Nebraska-Kearney, and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. She holds the school record for most kills in a season, and a career, and was a three-time All-American.
In 2005, she was named the RMAC Player of the Year, and the National Player of the Year.
Northridge, which plays in Class 4A, finished last season 7-16.
