Losh’s 14 strikeouts lift Strasburg to 3A softball title over Sterling
AURORA — Strasburg senior pitcher Logan Losh picked the right time to tie her school’s single-game strikeout record.
Losh whiffed 14 batters in softball’s Class 3A championship game and helped her Indians earned their second consecutive state title by beating Sterling 3-0 at Aurora Sports Park on Sunday.
“I was really looking for my riseball,” said Losh, whose grandfather, Lonnie Losh, is Strasburg’s pitching coach and has helped groom Logan into one of, if not the greatest, pitcher in Strasburg history.
He made all the pitching calls on Sunday.
“We were communicating through the entire game,” Logan Losh said. “I’ve always trusted him to make the correct calls.”
In both games of its games Sunday, Strasburg failed to get a run until the fifth inning abd had to rely on their stellar fielding to win each game.
“We played great defense, and played together in both games,” Lonnie Losh said. “Different people picked us up at different times when we needed them. It’s all about being a team.”
Strasburg had a tough test before facing Sterling, needing extra innings to advance in the semifinals against Valley.
That game was scoreless through five innings. Valley opened the scoring in the sixth when McKenzie Bond knocked two in. Strasburg responded when Danni Klein hit a triple deep to left field that tied the game at 2. Klein also drove in the winning runner at the bottom of the eighth to grab the win.
Klein, Losh and Victoria Wilson have played together since they were eight-years-old. Each of the Seniors played a crucial role in the championship run.
On top of her pitching, Losh also hit very well — she had two separate singles that each resulted in RBIs against Sterling. Klein had a good final game, hitting a double and snagging a steal in the second. Wilson teamed up with Logan from behind the plate.
With this year’s state championship under its belt, Strasburg finishes the season at 24-0 — a school record. Last year, Strasburg finished 20-3 — now good enough for second best in school history.
In the last five seasons, coach Michelle Woodard has accumulated a record of 81-25. As recently as 2009, Strasburg finished 11-12 — Woodard has created a winning program with a great coaching staff.
Lonnie Losh had nothing but praise for the kids he’s worked with this past year. He said that the girls have been involved in other activities such as participating in a food drive.
“In all my years of coaching, and it’s a lot, I have never been around such a great group of kids,” Lonnie Losh said.
