Panthers compete at Regionals

Panthers compete at Regionals

Oct. 14, 2000

STAFF REPORT

GRAND JUNCTION — Brackets are now set for the Class 4A District 1 Fastpitch Softball Tournament which will be played this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13-14, at Kronkright Complex.

Delta and Rifle will play the pigtail game at 4 p.m. on Friday. The winner will meet top seeded Montrose at 10 a.m. on today in one semifinal; the other semifinal pits second seeded Palisade against third seeded Montezuma-Cortez, also at 10 a.m.

The semifinal winners automatically earn berths in the Regionals, set for Oct. 20-21. The district championship, for seeding purposes, will be played at 2:30 this afternoon.

"We are hoping to take the district tournament," first-year MCHS head coach Charlie Rosenbaugh said. "We have a lot of talent on this team. If we can cut the errors and get the bats moving, we should have a pretty good game against Palisade. Then, we could face Montrose in the finals. We can beat both teams. The fact is we beat Montrose this summer for the championship and most our girls played on the summer team."

District 2 Tournament will see Cheyenne Mountain, Valley, Northridge, Pueblo West, and Sand Creek. District 3 will feature Pueblo South, Lewis-Palmer, Mountain View, Sterling, Manual, Sheridan, and Sierra. District 4 will have Elizabeth, Pueblo Centennial, Conifer, Brighton, Skyline, Mullen, and Pine Creek. District 5 will be Broomfield, Pueblo Central, Skyview, Montbello, Liberty, and Fort Lupton. District 6 will be Berthoud, Mitchell, Canon City, Legacy, Pueblo County, and Mesa Ridge. District 7 will have Niwot, Fountain-Fort Carson, Pueblo East, St. Mary’s Academy, Centaurus, and Harrison. And District 8 will feature Thomas Jefferson, Fort Morgan, Woodland Park, Widefield, Summit, Windsor, and Adams City.

ThunderRidge will not be back to defend its Class 4A State Championship it won a year ago.

"So, as far as the strategy goes, we haven’t got the game plan narrowed down, but I think we can win these games. I have a lot of confidence in these young ladies. They are a good bunch of girls. I hope, for them, that they can pull this out," Rosenbaugh added.

In last week’s games, Cortez lost to Palisade 9-0 but came back with a 6-3 win over Rifle.

"We didn’t show up to our game against Palisade," MCHS first-year head coach
Charlie Rosenbaugh said. "We made five errors to Palisade’s one. Four of those errors came in the first inning. That first inning killed us."

The Bulldogs scored five times in that inning with four of those runs coming in on errors, Rosenbaugh noted.

The Panthers only collected four hits. Linda Smart went two-for-three. Jena Thompson belted a double and Jentri Giesler slapped a single.

Rosenbaugh said Thompson did a nice job on the mound. She only had one walk. She fanned two batters.

"You can’t win ball games with errors and not bats," he remarked.

The game against Rifle was a lot easier to take. Cortez hit the ball better (six) while Rifle only collected three. Both teams made three errors.

Thompson led the hitting with two doubles and a single. Stacy Martinez slugged a single and Christina Schaak ripped a double. Rosenbaugh said Schaak, only a freshman, has been hitting the ball well lately.

Thompson had another good outing on the mound, fanning one and yielding only two walks.

There is some other good news for the Panthers. Stacey Pottorff, who suffered a broken thumb on her pitching hand earlier in the season, got her cast off and threw some. Rosenbaugh still does not know if Pottorff will be available to play much.