LITTLETON — With two strikes and game-winning run standing at third base Columbine senior Maddy McLean went with a simple approach at the plate.
“Hit the ball. Get the bat on the ball no matter what,” McLean said of her at-bat in the bottom of the 8th inning Saturday afternoon at Dave Sanders Field. “Get the bat on the ball and then run.”
McLean did just that. After a squeeze bunt went just foul and then by a high strike call, McLean ripped a double in the right field gap to score junior Payton Bodie. The No. 2-ranked Columbine stormed the field to celebrate the walk-off 6-5 victory against Jeffco rival Arvada West.
The win in the Class 5A Region 8 title game punched Columbine’s ticket to the 16-team state tournament Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22 and 23, at Aurora Sports Park. The Rebels take a 15-game winning streak to the state tournament.
“We are ecstatic,” Columbine coach Jim Santaniello said as the Rebels returning to state where they captured the 5A title two years ago. “We are so excited to go back there and see what happens.”
Santaniello admitted he wasn’t thrilled to see A-West in the same regional tournament. The Rebels and Wildcats had met already twice this year with Columbine (22-3 record) taking narrow 7-6 and 10-8 victories.
“When we saw Arvada West (in the bracket) we sort of knew it would come down like this,” Santaniello said of the thrilling regional title game. “They are really well-coached and have great athletes. We knew we would be in for a battle.”
McLean actually had a different approach facing A-West (16-9-1) again.
“I was really happy when I saw them in there,” McLean said. “I wanted a good game and wanted us to get pumped up before state. We wanted to beat them one more time.”
Columbine took a 5-2 lead through three innings. A-West brought in sophomore pitcher Brooklyn Burgess in the third inning and got in a groove throwing four shutout inning to give the Wildcats a chance to rally.
Columbine junior pitcher Araya Ogden was solid after giving up solo runs in the first and second innings.
“Both of those girls (Ogden and Burgess) are fierce competitors,” Santaniello said. “I have always said about Ray (Ogden) that she has unbelievable mental toughness. She’ll get put in a bad spot and come right back. She is like a pit bull. She keeps on coming.”
A-West rallied with a 3-run sixth inning to ties things up 5-5. Junior Kendall Mulvaney had the big hit with a 2-run single to tie thing up.
Sophomore Zoey Langerak had the defensive play of the game from right field in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Rebels tried to score the go-ahead run, but Langerak made the catch in right and threw out a runner at the plate to keep the game tied.
Santaniello had the coaching move the game when he decided to have Ogden intentionally walk Mulvaney in the top of the 8th inning with a runner on second base. Mulvaney was 3-for-3 with a trio of RBIs on the game.
“Anytime you have that empty base you have to consider it,” Santaniello said of walking Mulvaney with two outs in the top of the eighth inning. “We did that the last game against Arvada West. You have to play the percentages and hope it works out.”
It worked out for the Rebels with freshman Jailynn Ausman popping up to second base to end the inning. Columbine responded with a lead-off double by Bodie in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Addie Branch sacrifice bunted Bodie to third to set up McLean to hit the walk-off.
“This team is just as good or better than that team,” McLean said of the 2019 state title team. “I would love to see if we can win it two times.”
Two years ago Korbe Otis helped pitch the Rebels to the program’s first state title. With Otis not playing last season it allowed Ogden to get some valuable experience in the circle.
“Last year helped because I definitely wasn’t ready to pitch all those games. I thought Korbe (Otis) would be here,” Ogden said.
Ogden has 18 victories with an ERA sitting at 2.25 heading into the state tournament.
Columbine will have plenty of 5A Jeffco company at the state tournament. A-West edged ThunderRidge in the final game at Saturday at Columbine High School to punch the Wildcats’ ticket to the state tournament.
Chatfield and Lakewood both won their regionals tournament despite not being the highest seed. The Chargers defeated host Smoky Hill to win the Region 6 tournament and the Tigers had a successful trip to Grand Junction to come away with the Region 7 title.
On the 4A side, Jeffco will be will represented at state with Conifer and D’Evelyn both coming in as regional champions. 4A Jeffco champion Wheat Ridge battled its way to second-place at its regional tournament to advance to the state tournament.