Wheat Ridge softball advances to another state tournament
ARVADA — The journey has been a long one for Wheat Ridge senior Gabby Loya.
As a freshman she was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. Despite doing through chemotherapy treatments five days a week, Loya played in the state tournament in 2013 while giving the Farmers an emotional lift on the way to Wheat Ridge winning the state title.
“Honestly I never doubted it,” Loya said when asked if she ever though she wouldn’t be able to play softball. “I put my trust in God and whatever happened was going to happen. He kept me strong through it and healed my body.”
Loya and the Farmers qualified for yet another Class 4A state tournament with regional victories over Pueblo Centennial and Thomas Jefferson on Saturday at Lutz Sports Complex in Arvada. Wheat Ridge cruised to a 14-2 win over Pueblo Centennial and then a 10-4 win over TJ in the 4A Region 3 championship game.
“We played solid defense. We had one inning with some miscues, but they played well and focused all day,” Wheat Ridge first-year coach Jamie Heflin said. “When the bats are going its easy to get behind your pitcher.”
Senior Brandy DeHerrera got the start in the circle for the Farmers in the regional opener against Pueblo Centennial. Senior Brady Trengove closed out the first game and pitched a complete-game victory against TJ.
The Farmers had 10 days to process a rare conference loss to close the regular season. Wheat Ridge suffered a 10-7 home loss to rival D’Evelyn on the Farmers’ home field Oct. 5.
“It pushed us forward and got us focused,” Trengove said of the loss to D’Evelyn. “We were all down because it was our senior night, but we picked ourselves up.”
Wheat Ridge was locked in a tight game with TJ early on. The Farmers picked up their game with junior Kate Anderson, seniors Aniesa Abeyta and Riley Wickman, along with Trengove driving in runs to push Wheat Ridge’s lead to 10-4 through four innings to take the victory.
Heflin knows that Wheat Ridge (15-6 record) will likely have to defeat two-time defending state champion Valor Christian and/or Erie to win the Farmers first state title since 2013. The Farmers have losses to both Valor and Erie this season.
“It comes down to pitching and we know we have to hit,” Heflin said. “We know we are going to end up seeing Erie or Valor, but we have to get there first. We’ll see.”
With Loya being cancer-free for two and a half years, she has a good perspective heading into her fourth state tournament and goal of getting to a third state title game.
“We’ll just take one game at a time. I have confidence we can get there,” Loya said.
The 5A, 4A and 3A state tournaments begin next Friday at Aurora Sports Park.
Arvada West (5A) and Conifer (4A) didn’t have the kind of success Wheat Ridge had at Lutz on Saturday.
A-West came in as the No. 7 seed and host seed in the 5A Region 7, but suffered a pair of heartbreaking losses to Mountain Range and Grandview to eliminate the Wildcats (13-7-1).
Mountain Range fell behind early 1-0, but rallied to take a 4-1 victory. The Wildcats grabbed an early lead against Grandview in an elimination game, but the Wolves rallied for 8-7 victory that included a game-saving diving catch in centerfield in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Conifer won the Colorado 7 League this season with a young squad and grabbed the No. 8 seed for regional. The Lobos (16-6) dominated Longmont 10-0 in the first-round at Lutz, but lost the 4A Region 2 championship game to Falcon 16-5.
Conifer had to play an elimination game against Elizabeth with the winner advancing to the 16-team 4A state tournament. The Cardinals took an early 3-0 lead on a 3-run home run by junior Rachel Rucker in the top of the third inning.
Elizabeth never gave up the lead and went on to a 5-4 victory. Conifer scored a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but went down in order in the bottom of the seventh inning to have its season come to a close.
Ralston Valley, 5A Jeffco League champion, did have a successful rally in its elimination game against Mountain Vista at Aurora Sports Park. The Mustangs sent the game into extra inning with a 2-run bottom of the seven inning and eventually won 7-6 to advance to next week.
Dakota Ridge joins the Mustangs in the 5A state tournament. The Eagles won the 5A Region 6 tournament in Parker with victories over Poudre and Legend.
