Saturday, the Holy Family Tigers found a way, and rode it to its second state title in three years.
Buoyed by a first-inning grand slam from junior catcher Abby Edwards, Holy Family withstood a pesky Mead squad to defeat the Mavericks 9-6 in the Class 4A state softball championship.
“They have courage, respect, grit, and they work hard, every single one of them,” said Moriah Nguyen, a first-year head coach for Holy Family who also served as an assistant on the Tigers’ 2018 title team. “They’ve work their tail off all year long, and no one deserves it more than them.”
The fact that Holy Family was in position to win this title is amazing in of itself.
In the semifinals against D’Evelyn early Saturday, the Tigers trailed as much as 6-1, looking listless as D’Evelyn seemed destined for a title game appearance.
Heading into the top of the 7th inning, trailing the Jaguars 6-5, the Tigers did what championship teams do — never say die.
Holy Family threw down a remarkable 7-spot on D’Evelyn in the 7th inning, which featured a pair of three-run home runs from senior Jenna Pfenning and junior Annika Manzanarez, enabling the Tigers to come away with a stunning 12-7 win to boost itself into the title game. At the same time, it allowed the Tigers to exorcize the demons from a semifinal loss to eventual state champion Erie in 2019.
“Every single one of these girls have the grit,” Nguyen said of the team’s comeback. “They fight, scratch, and do whatever they can to score runs.”
That momentum carried over to the championship game, as the Tigers started things off by promptly loading the bases. Junior Abby Edwards — a starter on the 2018 championship team — drove a bomb to left centerfield to give the Tigers an early 4-0 lead, never relinquishing it.
“I saw an inside pitch, and I was so excited that they threw something inside to me,” Edwards said. “When I saw the umpire’s hand go in their air, I just jumped up in the air. It was so exciting to do that for my team.”
While Mead threatened, turning in two home runs as it got as close as 6-5 in the fourth inning, scratched across some insurance runs to seal it. Among those included an inside-the-park home run by Edwards in the 6th inning, which served as a coronation of sorts as Holy Family held on for the state crown.
Nguyen, an assistant for the 2018 championship who was in her first season as head coach, saw up close the senior class’ transformation from freshmen to two-time state champion. It’s a special group, Nguyen said.
“It’s amazing, seeing this group of freshmen since they were seniors, and what an experience and ride it was with these girls,” Nguyen said. “My heart is huge right now.”
The preseason football rankings were released on Monday for all seven classifications. Leading their respective polls are: Stratton/Liberty (6-man), Sedgwick County (8-man), Limon (1A), Delta (2A), Pueblo South (3A), Pine Creek (4A), and Cherry Creek (5A).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
This week’s softball rankings added three newcomers: Horizon (5A), Pueblo South (4A) and Fort Lupton (3A).
The polls, voted upon by head coaches around the state, will serve as part of the seeding criteria in softball this season. Polls are released each Monday during the regular season.
Cherokee Trail 35, Columbine 25, Douglas County 21, Rocky Mountain 16, Ralston Valley 11, Dakota Ridge 9, Castle View 8, Regis Jesuit 8, Brighton 6, Grand Junction 6, Fountain-Fort Carson 5, Pomona 4, Rampart 3, Chaparral 2, Eaglecrest 2, Fort Collins 2, Prairie View 2, Arvada West 1, ThunderRidge 1.
Dropped out
Cherokee Trail (8).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Wheat Ridge (9)
13-1-0
148
1
3-0-0
2
Mead (6)
14-0-0
146
2
2-0-0
3
D’Evelyn
14-1-0
113
3
2-1-0
4
Holy Family
11-2-0
102
4
3-0-0
5
Riverdale Ridge
13-1-0
64
7
2-0-0
6
Conifer
12-2-0
62
6
2-1-0
7
Silver Creek
9-4-0
50
5
2-0-0
8
Roosevelt
12-2-0
36
10
2-0-0
9
Frederick
9-5-0
32
9
0-2-0
10
Pueblo South (1)
10-3-0
28
–
2-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Erie 21, Pueblo West 9, Northfield 9, Air Academy 8, Elizabeth 8, Bear Creek 7, Mesa Ridge 7, Mullen 7, Northridge 5, Pueblo Centennial 5, Palisade 4, Windsor 4, Discovery Canyon 3, Coronado 1, Pueblo County 1.
Dropped out
Erie (8).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Eaton (8)
11-2-0
122
1
1-1-0
2
University (1)
11-2-0
107
2
3-0-0
3
Rocky Ford
13-1-0
78
3
4-1-0
4
Lyons (1)
8-3-0
68
4
2-1-0
5
Lutheran (2)
12-1-0
66
5
3-0-0
6
Limon
11-3-0
53
6
3-1-0
7
Fort Lupton
12-1-0
40
–
4-0-0
8
Burlington
7-3-0
38
9
2-0-0
9
Strasburg
7-6-0
34
7
2-1-0
10
Sterling
7-6-0
22
8
1-2-0
Others receiving votes:
La Junta 21, Brush 17, Delta 17, Basalt 9, Montezuma-Cortez 6, Cedaredge 5, Lamar 4, The Academy 4, Weld Central 4.
Wheat Ridge has moved up to No. 1 in this week’s Class 4A softball rankings.
The polls, voted upon by head coaches around the state, will serve as part of the seeding criteria in softball this season. Polls are released each Monday during the regular season.
Douglas County 29, Castle View 22, Rocky Mountain 22, Columbine 13, Ralston Valley 10, Valor Christian 8, Horizon 7, Brighton 6, Hinkley 6, ThunderRidge 5, Fountain-Fort Carson 4, Rampart 4, Denver East 3, Fort Collins 3, Pomona 3, Arapahoe 2, Arvada West 2, Chaparral 2, Eaglecrest 2, Cherry Creek 1, Prairie View 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Wheat Ridge (7)
10-1-0
145
2
2
Mead (7)
12-0-0
144
1
3
D’Evelyn (3)
12-0-0
123
4
4
Holy Family
8-2-0
113
3
5
Silver Creek
7-4-0
64
5
6
Conifer
10-1-0
54
8
7
Riverdale Ridge
11-1-0
52
7
8
Erie
8-3-0
44
6
9
Frederick
9-3-0
42
9
10
Roosevelt
10-2-0
27
–
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo South 21, Pueblo West 21, Pueblo Central 14, Windsor 11, Bear Creek 10, Mullen 8, Air Academy 6, Coronado 6, Falcon 5, Discovery Canyon 4, Pueblo Centennial 4, Northfield 4, Golden 3, Mesa Ridge 3, Palisade 2, Ponderosa 2, Durango 1, Niwot 1, Pueblo County 1.
Dropped out
Ponderosa (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Eaton (7)
10-1-0
129
1
2
University (5)
8-2-0
114
2
3
Rocky Ford
9-0-0
92
3
4
Lyons
6-2-0
75
4
5
Lutheran (1)
9-1-0
73
7
6
Limon
8-2-0
44
6
7
Strasburg
5-5-0
41
5
8
Sterling
6-4-0
35
10
9
Burlington
5-3-0
31
–
10
La Junta
6-4-0
29
8
Others receiving votes:
Fort Lupton 27, Brush 26, Basalt 15, Montezuma-Cortez 15, Delta 10, The Academy 4, Cedaredge 3, Weld Central 3, Holyoke 2, Gunnison 1, Lamar 1.
