LITTLETON — It was cold, damp and getting dark late Tuesday afternoon at Dave Sanders Memorial Field and Columbine’s Callie Stern decided it was time to go home.
“All I needed was a single,” Stern said of her walk-off 2-run hit in the bottom of the fifth inning that induced the 10-run mercy rule. “She (Arvada West pitcher Isabelle Schwien) wasn’t really giving me much to hit. The last pitch was there so I swung.”
Columbine junior Korbe Otis (10) is fired up after sliding safely into home plate during the Rebels’ 11-1 victory Tuesday against Arvada West. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Stern’s drive to right field gave Columbine — ranked No. 2 in this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 5A softball standings — the 11-1 victory over Arvada West.
“If you look back at the season she (Stern) has had so many clutch hits,” Columbine coach Jim Santaniello said. “She just lives for that moment. We call her Ms. Clutch.”
Riley Marshall and Korbe Otis scored on Stern’s hit as the Rebels could escape the temperatures that had dropped into the high-40s.
“It was definitely a great way to win,” said Otis, who got the victory on the mound while striking out nine batters in five innings of work. “You want to have that kind of energy at the end of each game.”
The victory was key in what will be a mad dash over the next 10 days to the 5A Jeffco League title. Columbine (18-2, 4-1 in league) is trying to defend its conference title, but hit an early snag with a loss to rival Dakota Ridge on Sept. 19. Santaniello admitted it was a wake-up call for his Rebels.
“I think we were tired and I think we might have been overconfident,” Santaniello said of the conference opening loss to Dakota Ridge last week. “We look at every opponent as a huge challenge.”
Columbine pitcher Korbe Otis struck out nine batters while giving up just a run Tuesday against Arvada West. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
A-West (9-10, 3-1) came in riding a 5-game winning streak and a game up on the rest of the field in the conference standings. However, Columbine quickly took the lead with a 4-run first inning against the Wildcats.
Otis, Marshall, Emma Todd and Shea Cummings all had hits as the Rebels batted-around in the first inning against A-West starting pitcher Savannah Clausen.
“When we can jump on a team and just let her (Otis) do her think we are really tough to beat,” Santaniello said. “It was really nice to get run support early on.”
Otis wasn’t able to get a 1-2-3 inning in the circle during her five innings pitching. She walked three, but gave up only two singles. Clausen singled and eventually scored the Wildcats’ lone run.
“We are taking it one pitch, one inning at a time,” Otis said. “We are just trying to get our jobs done.”
The next job ahead for Columbine is Ralston Valley at 4:30 pm Thursday back at Dave Sanders Memorial Field. The Mustangs (6-13, 3-2) dropped behind Columbine and A-West in the conference standings with a loss to Lakewood (17-4, 4-2) on Tuesday.
“We are taking ever game as a championship game right now,” Columbine coach Jim Santaniello said. “Our intensity is off the charts right now. It’s really paying off for us.”
A-West begins a 4-game home stretch to close out conference play. The Wildcats start by hosing Dakota Ridge at 4:30 pm Thursday.
Arvada West freshman Peyton Raley takes a swing during Tuesday’s Class 5A Jeffco League game against Columbine at Dave Sanders Memorial Field. The Wildcats had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 11-1 loss. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
About four weeks ago, we distributed an op-ed suggesting that inappropriate behavior by parents and other adult fans at high school sporting events was causing many officials to quit before they even reached two years on the job.
Although we received mostly positive support from this article, some people thought we went too far in telling parents to “act your age” and “stay in your own lane.” On the contrary, perhaps we should have been more direct.
Last week, one of our member state associations shared a resignation letter it had received from a 20-year veteran soccer official who had taken all the abuse he could handle. A portion of that letter follows:
“Soccer parents: you are absolutely 100% the reason we have a critical refereeing shortage and games are being cancelled left and right. And you are at least a part of the reason I’m done here. The most entitled among you are the ones that scream the loudest. And every time you do this, you tell your son or daughter the following:
“I do not believe in you, I do not believe in your team, I do not believe in your collective ability to overcome your own adversity and you absolutely will not win and cannot do this without me tilting the table in your favor.
“On behalf of myself and so many other referees – and I say this with every ounce of my heart and soul – shut up about the referees, and let your kids rise or fall as a team, as a FAMILY. Because the vast majority of you truly have no idea what you’re talking about, and even if you have a legitimate gripe about one play or one decision, you’re not fixing anything.”
And if that wasn’t enough, last week the Eastern Panhandle Youth Football League in West Virginia released the following statement:
“Unfortunately, it has come to the point that because of the abuse, negativity and utter disrespect shown to our officials from parents, coaches and most recently from our players, the Eastern Panhandle Officials Association president stated today that the association will no longer schedule officials for our league games at any field. This means effective immediately all remaining games are cancelled.”
This statement is from a youth league, which means the coaches are likely also parents of players, and the players are sons and daughters who are emulating their parents’ behavior.
So, no, our previous message was not too direct or emphatic. The kind of boorish parental behavior that compels a 20-year soccer official to quit cannot be allowed to continue. While we would hope that parents and other fans would embrace the concepts of education-based athletics by respecting the efforts of those men and women who officiate high school sports, that unfortunately is not occurring in some cases.
As a result, schools must adopt and enforce a strict, fan behavior policy. In soccer, a player receives a “yellow card” as a first warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. If the action occurs again, the player is hit with a “red card” and is ejected from the contest. Some schools have implemented a similar penalty structure for parents and other fans – not just at soccer games but all high school events. If the inappropriate behavior and verbal abuse of officials continues after one warning, the person is removed from the venue. There must be consequences for these offenders before we lose any more officials.
Most of the 7.9 million participants in high school sports are on the fields and courts every day to have fun and compete as a team with their classmates, and the 300,000-plus officials assist in that process. Now, if parents would let the players play and the officials officiate!
