LITTLETON — Chatfield grabbed a monster non-league victory Wednesday in an early Class 5A top-10 showdown against Legend.
The defending 5A Jeffco League champs and state semifinalist from last season defeated Legend — No. 3 in the CHSAANow.com 5A softball rankings — 3-0 on the Chargers’ home field. No. 7 Chatfield improved to 3-0 on the season with the shutout win.
“I think a lot of people were doubting us because what we lost,” Chatfield senior Peyton Shepard said. “A bunch of upperclassmen and freshman coming in have really stepped up.”
The Chargers jumped on the Titans (1-1 record) early with a 3-run first inning. It would be all the runs scored as Chatfield junior pitcher Brooklyn Levin, along with Legend junior Cameron Ponich and sophomore Avery Rios combined for 18 strikeouts.
“We had that big first inning and made (Legend) pay for a couple of mistakes,” Chatfield coach Jen Lazzeri said. “We had some aggressive base running. We have some good speed at the top of the line-up so if we get on base we are pretty dangerous.”
Shepard and senior Dakota Dipaola both reached base to start the bottom of the first inning for the Chargers. Shepard scored on an RBI single by sophomore Aubrey Henshaw. Dipaola stole home for the second run and freshman Kendall Holloway knocked in the third run of the inning.
“Beating a team like this give us a lot of confidence,” Shepard said. “It gives especially our younger kids a lot of momentum. It’s huge to come out and beat a good team.”
It’s another quick start out of the gates for the Chargers. Chatfield got out to a 4-0 start during the COVID shortened season last year and a remarkable 16-0 stretch to begin the 2019 campaign.
However, Chatfield is doing it this year without Izzy DiNapoli. She was named the 5A Jeffco League Female Athlete of the year after graduating last spring. The hard-throwing righty had a three-year run where she racked up a 41-20 pitching record with an ERA below 2.00 and 604 strikeouts.
“It has been very scary coming in filling her shoes,” Levin said of taking over the pitching duties from DiNapoli. “She is a Division I pitcher and stepping into her shoes is scary, but very exciting.”
DiNapoli was actually on hand for Chatfield’s game Wednesday before heading up to Greeley to begin her freshman campaign where she’ll play softball for the University of Northern Colorado.
“As much as (DiNapoli) was huge for us for four years, I think a lot of teams thought we were just Izzy,” Lazzeri said. “I’ve got eight girls returning from last year. We are good from the top down and we want to prove it.”
Lazzeri has been impressed how Levin has handled herself being put in the spotlight.
“Brooklyn is an incredibly tough kid. She has been with us and has always been our No. 2 pitcher,” Lazzeri said. “She just didn’t really get an opportunity to pitch, but she has really stepped into it.”