No. 7 Mountain View softball gets upset win against No. 3 Silver Creek
LONGMONT — Raleigh Basart led No. 7 Mountain View softball to a 9-4 upset win against No. 3 Silver Creek.
After Kaley Barker led off the inning with a double, Basart knocked one up the middle to score her and break a 4-4 tie.
“I was nervous, I was shaking up there,” Basart said. “Once I heard my teammates cheering me on, I got that hit down and got my nerves out, and I was good to go.”
Then, in the top of the seventh, Basart fully broke the game open with a two-run homerun.
“I think that’s what really got us cheering and going,” Basart said. “I’ve been struggling with my hitting lately, and finally just hearing my coaches help me out and keep my head in. And wanting to score Kaley Barker; we needed to score her there.”
Added Mountain View head coach Randy Felton: “She’s had a rough game or two lately, but she came back here and had some really big hits. One of her nemesis is that changeup, so for her to be able to sit back on that changeup and drive that was a very positive thing for her.”
Silver Creek pitcher, and Hawaii commit, Jetta Nannen allowed just one hit through the first three innings.
Then, Mountain View got a spark.
“It might take us a time through the order to get a good pitcher like that, but we were fortunate enough to start hitting later,” Randy Felton said. “That’s kind of been our M.O. all season so far. I think we’re pretty deep offensively.”
After Nannen walked the first batter, Izzy Griego laid down a bunt and beat it out. Another walk set up Basart with the bases loaded. Basart grounded out, but a run scored on the play.
“I think what got us through is us coming together more,” Basart said. “We just clicked and we all were having confidence up there. We all saw her a couple times, and were like, ‘Yes, we can hit her. We can do it.’ That’s what got us going.”
Jaycee Schroeder singled up the middle for her second hit of the day and Mountain View led 3-0.
A Nicole Rogers single after Schroeder stole second padded the lead to 4-0.
“We strung a few together when we needed it and put them on the ropes a little bit,” Felton said. “That gave us a little bit of breathing room, but we always know there’s not enough.”
Silver Creek wouldn’t go away as Kendra Green responded with a two-run homerun to deep right-center in the bottom half of the fourth.
In the fifth, the Raptors threatened again.
“We knew they would always fight back every inning,” Felton said. “We never had that thing in hand when we got a two, three, four run lead.”
A single, error and a bunt single set Nannen up with the bases loaded. And she delivered.
Nannen lined a two-RBI double to right to tie the game.
Peyton Duke saved two more runs from coming in during the fifth with a diving play to end the inning.
Duke’s play set up Basart and Mountain View to take the upset win.
“This will keep our confidence up,” Basart said. “We’ll see Loveland again. And helping us with league. It will help us more with battling and staying up.”
Griego and Barker had doubles off the wall in the top of the seventh to give Mountain View two runs of insurance before Basart went deep, making it 9-4.
“We have nine hitters that can hit at anytime,” Felton said. “It might be the bottom three one game, it might be the top three. Kaley always gets us sparked at catcher. She gets those big hits when we need them.”
Freshman Bailey Carlson was huge on the mound for Mountain View opposing Nannen. Carlson did a great job of limiting damage and hard contact, and getting groundballs.
“Bailey getting to pitch her first real gutty type of interleague, conference kind of deal as a freshman,” Felton said. “That’s her real first big start, and now she knows what this game is all about.”
