3A softball: Lutheran finishes off perfect season with state championship

AURORA – The Lutheran Lions softball team is perfect.

With a 13-2 championship game victory over University, the Lions capped off an unblemished 29-0 record and a 2021 3A state softball championship title.

“It’s hard to put this feeling into words right now,” Head Coach Glen Maestretti said after the game. “We just kept telling our team all year, we have a story to write, and this was the final chapter.”

Lutheran steamrolled its way through its schedule all season, finishing the year out-scoring its opponents by an astounding 388-23 mark. Even in the state championships this weekend, the Lions rarely found themselves challenged.

They won their first round game over Rocky Ford, 15-0, then beat Limon, 9-1, and finished off Sterling in the semifinals, 15-0, to advance to the championship.

However, in the title game against University, the Lions found themselves in an unfamiliar position, as they fell behind 2-0 in the first inning.

“That was one of the few times this season we were down any runs,” Maestretti stated. “But we told the girls this is the same game we’ve been playing all season, don’t make it any bigger than it is, and they did a great job of staying levelheaded.”

And stay levelheaded they did, as Lutheran immediately responded with a run in the bottom of the first, and then four in each of the second and third innings to leap ahead to a 9-2 lead. From there, they didn’t look back as four more runs crossed in the bottom of the fourth to put the mercy rule into place.

With a 1-2-3 inning in the top half of the fifth, the Lions had their first title in program history in just its second season of existence.

On the other end, University, which reached its second title game in the past three seasons, had a wild semifinal game in which the Bulldogs knocked off the defending champions Eaton on a two-run home run in the seventh inning.

But the weekend was all about the new champions of 3A softball, shrouded in purple.

The Lutheran squad is certainly poised to become one of the new powerhouses of Colorado high school softball as well, as the team does not have a single senior on its 2021 roster. The team will make the move to 4A next season, where coach Maestretti is confident good things will continue.

“We’re looking to cause some havoc in that league as well.”