Haley Smith is the 5A softball player of the year. (Pam Wagner)
The 2013 all-state softball teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These team were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches. Find more information here.
The players who received the most votes in their classification were selected as the player of the year in their class.
Scroll down to see the teams, or use the menu below to navigate to the class of your choosing.
DENVER — The state spirit championships continued on Saturday, and seven more champions will be crowned by night’s end. Find Day 1 results here.
Saturday’s champions include Evergreen (4A poms); Broomfield (4A cheer); Faith Christian (3A cheer); Clear Creek (3A poms); Salida (2A/3A co-ed cheer); Cheyenne Wells (2a cheer); and Vail Christian (2A poms).
[divider]
Class 4A poms
Evergreen won the 4A poms championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Evergreen
94.67
470.00
2
Broomfield
94.33
468.00
3
Valor Christian
93.00
463.00
4
Battle MountainÂ
90.00
445.00
5
Wheat Ridge
89.33
446.00
6
Windsor
89.17
443.00
7
Mullen
88.00
431.00
8
Durango
87.00
423.00
9
Eagle Valley
86.67
435.50
10
Canon City
86.50
423.50
11
Lewis-Palmer
85.50
424.50
12
Mead
84.67
422.00
13
Frederick
82.50
403.50
14
Green Mountain
79.33
397.00
15
Centaurus
75.33
378.00
16
Conifer
73.67
366.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Evergreen
96.33
477.50
2
Broomfield
94.67
469.50
3
Valor Christian
92.00
461.00
4
Battle Mountain
90.33
449.00
[divider]
Class 4A cheer
Broomfield won the 4A cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Broomfield
85.20
428.10
2
Palmer Ridge
78.87
389.20
3
Valor Christian
77.80
388.90
4
Pueblo West
76.40
381.40
5
Erie
74.33
371.80
6
Glenwood Springs
72.13
361.40
7
Sand Creek
70.23
348.80
8
Coronado
70.07
347.20
9
Pueblo South
65.67
324.60
10
Windsor
64.63
324.30
11
Weld Central
64.00
319.50
12
Ponderosa
61.70
304.00
13
Vista Ridge
60.97
305.80
14
Green Mountain
59.50
299.70
15
Thompson Valley
58.93
297.30
16
Longmont
58.77
290.90
17
Rifle
58.73
296.20
18
Woodland Park
58.13
292.10
19
Canon City
57.97
290.90
20
Wheat Ridge
57.30
284.50
21
Durango
56.17
285.70
22
Skyline
55.57
271.60
23
Englewood
55.57
273.90
24
Elizabeth
54.97
271.50
25
Golden
54.13
266.80
26
D’Evelyn
54.07
267.60
27
Pueblo Centennial
53.37
265.60
28
Mead
52.77
260.60
29
Mullen
52.37
267.20
30
Lewis Palmer
52.03
263.30
31
Battle Mountain
51.70
257.90
32
Northridge
51.30
257.00
33
Montezuma-Cortez
46.53
228.20
34
Ft. Morgan
43.73
228.50
35
Roosevelt
43.33
215.30
36
Pueblo Central
41.23
210.30
37
Denver North
40.47
210.60
38
Silver Creek
19.27
98.90
39
Conifer
0.00
0.00
39
Mountain View
0.00
0.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Broomfield
90.27
451.10
2
Pueblo West
77.27
389.90
3
Palmer Ridge
75.27
376.60
4
Glenwood Springs
75.03
375.80
5
Erie
74.60
373.60
6
Valor Christian
73.57
366.80
7
Sand Creek
72.97
360.00
8
Coronado
71.87
358.60
[divider]
Class 3A cheer
Faith Christian won the 3A cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Faith Christian
71.67
355.20
2
Manitou Springs
68.70
346.20
3
University
68.23
340.00
4
St. Mary’S
67.40
335.30
5
Dolores Huerta
67.10
330.30
6
Coal Ridge
60.17
301.20
7
Holy Family
59.77
299.90
8
Frontier Academy
58.83
294.60
9
Machebeuf
58.77
293.10
10
Sterling
58.27
293.70
11
Lamar
56.73
282.10
12
Pagosal Springs
55.77
277.20
13
The Academy
54.73
278.10
14
Buena Vista
54.03
270.50
15
Florence
53.93
275.40
16
Bayfield
53.37
268.40
17
Middle Park
52.13
261.50
18
Alamosa
51.20
256.10
19
Pinnacle
50.60
246.60
20
La Junta
46.37
227.80
21
Kipp Denver
45.63
226.80
22
Trinidad
45.17
224.60
23
Jefferson
44.20
220.60
24
Peak To Peak
0.00
0.00
24
0.00
0.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Faith Christian
72.80
364.60
2
Manitou Springs
70.47
353.30
3
St. Mary’S
69.10
346.90
4
University
59.87
301.80
[divider]
Class 3A poms
Clear Creek won the 3A poms championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims/Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Clear Creek
83.33
415.00
2
Bayfield
82.00
411.00
2
Bennett
82.00
405.00
4
Sheridan
81.33
407.00
5
Aspen
80.83
404.00
6
University
80.17
398.50
7
Grand Valley
77.33
382.00
8
Basalt
61.33
303.00
[divider]
Class 2A/3A co-ed cheer
Salida won the 2A/3A co-ed cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Aurora Sports Park sits quiet prior to Saturday’s action. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) A roundup of Saturday’s action at the state softball tournaments at Aurora Sports Park.
AURORA — Fossil Ridge won its first two games at Saturday’s opening rounds of the 5A state softball tournament by a combined score of 29-7. It now finds itself in the semifinals for the first time in school history.
In fact, Fossil Ridge had never even won a game at the state tournament before Saturday.
The third-seeded SaberCats beat No. 14 Pine Creek in the opening round, 10-3, then followed with a 19-4 mercy-rule-shortened win over No. 6 Eaglecrest which ended on Haley Donaldson’s walk-off three-run home run.
Legacy softball coach Dawn Gaffin goes over instructions between innings Saturday afternoon during the Lightning’s 8-1 quarterfinal victory against Dakota Ridge. Legacy, 5-time Class 5A state champion, will face Brighton in the 5A state semifinals 10 a.m. Sunday at Aurora Sports Park. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
Fossil Ridge is 22-1 in 2013. The SaberCats’ lone loss this season came to Legacy on Sept. 16. They could get a rematch on Saturday — but first they’ll need to get past No. 7 Legend, another first-timer in the semis.
Legend (19-5) dispatched No. 10 Grandview 13-8 to open the tournament, then beat No. 2 Rock Canyon 6-1 in the quartefinals.
No. 9 Brighton was the lone team to knock off a No. 1 seed on Saturday. The Bulldogs, now 22-2, beat No. 1 Douglas County 8-4 in the quarterfinals. That followed an 11-1 win over No. 8 Loveland, the defending champion.
In the semis, Brighton will get No. 5 Legacy, which beat a pair of Jeffco squads (Chatfield and Dakota Ridge) to earn its seventh consecutive berth into the state tournament semifinals.
No. 12 Chatfield gave Legacy a tough test before the Lightning pulled away in the late innings for a 6-2 win.
“I think we kind of learned from it,” Legacy senior pitcher Haley Smith said. “Our bats were kind of cold at first, but we had everybody set up.”
Legacy used some “small ball” tactics in the third inning against No. 4 Dakota Ridge to score four runs on the way to an 8-1 victory.
Despite the rich tradition of winning five straight 5A state crowns from 2007 to 2011, Smith doesn’t believe Legacy will be nervous going into the semifinals.
“If anything I think there is less pressure because everyone thinks we can’t do it,” Smith said. “We are the underdogs.”
Semifinal games:
(9) Brighton vs. (5) Legacy, 10 a.m.
(3) Fossil Ridge vs. (7) Legend, 10 a.m.
[divider] Broomfield is headed to the semifinals. More photos. (Pam Wagner)
Fifth-seeded Broomfield narrowly survived being No. 13 D’Evelyn’s second upset victim of the day. But the Eagles did survive, and advance, to the 4A semifinals on Sunday.
Broomfield rallied from 2-0 and 4-2 holes to hold on and beat D’Evelyn 7-6 on Saturday. The Eagles had a four-run fifth-inning which led to the win. They will face top-seeded Wheat Ridge in the semifinals.
Wheat Ridge junior Erin Dalton connects with a pitch during the Farmers’ 5-0 win against Roosevelt in the opening round of the Class 4A state softball tournament Saturday at Aurora Sports Park. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
Wheat Ridge didn’t have much problem advancing.
The Farmers shut out No. 16 Roosevelt by a 5-0 score in the opening round and cranked out 11 hits in a 9-4 quarterfinal victory against No. 8 Mountain View. Still, Wheat Ridge coach Marty Stricklett said there is “some improving to do” going into the final day of the season.
The Farmers edged Broomfield 2-0 earlier this season. Sophomore Christina Nelson hit a two-run home run in the first inning and senior pitcher Jessica Salbato pitched a shutout against Broomfield back on Aug. 30.
A 1-0 loss to Niwot in the 4A semifinals last year still motivates the Farmers heading into their eighth straight trip to the state semifinals.
“Tomorrow we are still going off what happened last year,” Stricklett said. “We’ve got to show up and play our game. The name of our game is hitting. We’ve got to hit the ball.”
On the other side of the bracket, No. 6 Erie beat No. 11 Silver Creek 11-1 and No. 3 Pueblo East 7-1 to advance to Sunday. The Tigers will face No. 2 Ponderosa, which escaped No. 15 Palmer Ridge’s upset bid, 5-4, to open the tournament, then beat No. 7 Berthoud 6-0 in the quarters.
The four semifinalists at the 3A level each only played one game on Saturday. That’s because Strasburg, Sterling, Holy Family and Valley all had opening-round byes as seeds Nos. 1-4.
Top-seeded Strasburg beat No. 9 Basalt 11-0, and will meet No. 4 Valley, which eeked past No. 5 Eaton 1-0.
In the other semifinal, No. 2 Sterling will meet No. 3 Holy Family. Sterling beat No. 7 Lamar 5-0 and Holy Family beat No. 11 Dolores Huerta 3-0.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Boulder 21, Pine Creek 17, Poudre 17, Montbello 15, Palmer 11, Brighton 7, Denver East 7, Fort Collins 5, Eaglecrest 4, Highlands Ranch 4, Adams City 3, George Washington 3, Cherokee Trail 2, Heritage 1, Littleton 1.
Dropped out
Eaglecrest (7), Boulder (8).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Battle Mountain (7)
4-0-0
111
1
1-0-0
2
Broomfield (3)
4-1-1
101
2
2-0-0
3
Air Academy (1)
6-0-0
98
4
2-0-0
4
Cheyenne Mountain (1)
3-1-0
93
3
1-1-0
5
Evergreen
3-1-0
67
6
0-0-0
6
Niwot
2-1-1
46
5
0-0-0
7
Ponderosa
3-2-0
38
7
1-1-0
8
Silver Creek
3-1-0
24
10
0-0-0
9
Lewis-Palmer
4-1-1
14
–
1-0-1
10
Denver North
4-0-0
12
–
1-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo West 10, Longmont 9, Golden 8, Wheat Ridge 8, Valor Christian 7, Pueblo South 4, Summit 4, Mullen 3, Denver West 2, Centaurus 1.
Dropped out
Pueblo West (8), Denver South (9).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
The Classical Academy (5)
6-0-0
110
1
2-0-0
2
Colorado Academy (4)
5-0-0
106
2
2-0-0
3
Holy Family
3-0-0
71
3
0-0-0
4
Coal Ridge (1)
3-0-0
70
4
0-0-0
5
Manitou Springs (1)
6-0-0
66
6
2-0-0
6
Salida
5-0-0
41
9
2-0-0
7
Kent Denver (1)
2-2-0
38
7
1-0-0
8
Faith Christian
3-2-1
37
8
1-0-0
9
Basalt
3-2-0
23
5
0-1-0
10
Bruce Randolph
3-0-1
19
–
1-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Roaring Fork 14, Jefferson Academy 12, Peak to Peak 10, C.S. Christian 9, Denver Christian 7, Frontier Academy 7, Fountain Valley 6, Liberty Common 5, Colorado Rocky Mountain 4, Sheridan 3, Vail Mountain 2, Lutheran 1.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Rangeview 25, Denver East 24, Standley Lake 20, Poudre 18, Fossil Ridge 16, Montbello 14, Arvada West 11, Aurora Central 8, Abraham Lincoln 7, Adams City 6, Heritage 4, Palmer 4, Brighton 2, Fort Collins 2.
Dropped out
Denver East (5), Fossil Ridge (7), Heritage (8).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Battle Mountain (8)
3-0-0
121
1
2-0-0
2
Broomfield (3)
2-1-1
107
2
2-1-0
3
Cheyenne Mountain (1)
2-0-0
104
4
2-0-0
4
Air Academy (1)
4-0-0
93
5
3-0-0
5
Niwot
2-1-1
65
3
1-1-1
6
Evergreen
3-1-0
57
7
3-0-0
7
Ponderosa
2-1-0
41
8
1-1-0
8
Pueblo West
2-0-0
21
–
1-0-0
9
Denver South
1-1-0
17
6
0-1-0
10
Silver Creek
3-1-0
14
–
2-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Longmont 11, Denver North 10, Valor Christian 10, Lewis-Palmer 9, Windsor 9, Golden 6, Sand Creek 3, Denver West 2, Mullen 2, Summit 2, Wheat Ridge 2, Montrose 1, Steamboat Springs 1.
Dropped out
Sand Creek (9), Valor Christian (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
The Classical Academy (6)
4-0-0
111
2
1-0-0
2
Colorado Academy (4)
3-0-0
104
1
2-0-0
3
Holy Family
3-0-0
77
4
2-0-0
4
Coal Ridge (1)
3-0-0
72
6
3-0-0
5
Basalt
3-1-0
63
3
1-1-0
6
Manitou Springs
4-0-0
40
–
2-0-0
7
Kent Denver (1)
1-2-0
37
5
0-1-0
8
Faith Christian
2-2-1
35
7
1-1-1
9
Salida
3-0-0
33
9
1-0-0
10
Jefferson Academy
3-1-0
16
–
3-1-0
Others receiving votes:
Peak to Peak 10, Bruce Randolph 9, Fountain Valley 7, Machebeuf 7, Denver Christian 6, Jefferson 6, Lake County 6, Frontier Academy 5, Roaring Fork 5, Liberty Common 4, C.S. Christian 3, Aurora West 2, Lutheran 2.