Evergreen softball continues remarkable win streak

LAKEWOOD — It might have appeared improbable three weeks ago that Evergreen would be in contention for the Class 4A Jeffco League softball title.

However, that is precisely where the Cougars finds themselves with three league game remaining. Evergreen (10-10, 5-0 in 4A Jeffco) extended its winning streak to seven games Tuesday with a 11-4 conference victory on the road against Green Mountain.

“I never doubted these girls,” said Evergreen first-year coach Steve Nuccio despite his team starting with a 1-9 record this season. “I think they are more than capable.”

The Cougars are capable of winning the school’s first softball league title since 2005 if they get victories at Alameda (Wednesday) and Conifer (Saturday), along with finishing off conference play undefeated with a home win against D’Evelyn (Monday) over the next week.

“Going into those last two games there is going to be pressure,” Evergreen junior Logan Gaber said. “It’s a rival with Conifer and then one of the other top teams in the league with D’Evelyn. They are going to be huge for us, but I believe we are all in this together and ready to take it.”

Gaber played a big role in keeping the Cougars on track to win the league title against an upset-minded Green Mountain squad. The Rams (8-8-1, 1-4) held a 4-3 lead after five innings.

Evergreen quickly regained the lead in the top of the sixth inning with a lead-off single by senior Sidney Phillips that was followed up with a 2-run home run by Gaber.

“I hadn’t really had great at-bats,” Gaber said of her home run. “I was looking for my pitch and they gave it to me. I knew it was my time.”

Sophomore Ruby Haver had an RBI double later in the inning to extend the lead to 6-4. It was a remarkable offensive turnaround for the Cougars after Green Mountain junior pitcher Erin Ransom retired Evergreen in order in the first three innings.

“Some games we’ve had troubles starting,” Gaber admitted. “But we usually pick it up. We get in a groove. Play small ball can get our momentum going.”

Evergreen scratched out a pair of runs in the fourth inning with the first three Cougars reaching base on bunts. A few Ram errors allowed Evergreen to tie things up 2-2.

“We are a versatile team. We can all bunt. We can all go long,” Phillips said. “We have a strong line-up even if we have a hard time the first time around. We can turn the page and turn it around.”

Phillips was the headliner in Evergreen’s 5-run top of the seventh inning. She ripped a 2-run home run over the fence to give the Cougars a commanding 8-4 lead. Evergreen would tack on three more runs to make the final score 11-4.

Junior Olivia Kingery picked up the victory on the mound after taking over for Gaber in the circle.

“The execution was flawless,” Nuccio said of the Cougars’ turning it around at the plate and in the field after falling behind 4-3 through five innings. “If we don’t execute we don’t get back into that ballgame.”

Evergreen — suits just 10 players and doesn’t have a JV team this season — has become a tight-knit family this season after rebounding from the tough start.

“I think we were looking forward to league because we always have a difficult preseason playing a bunch of 5A schools,” Gaber said. “We were coming into (league) thinking we were going to do well, but I don’t any of us thought we would be undefeated so far.”

Conifer (11-6, 4-0), Golden (12-7, 5-1), Wheat Ridge (9-10, 4-2) and D’Evelyn (8-10, 2-2) all could still mathematically win the league title. The Cougars and Lobos are the only teams that control their own destiny.

“I love this group of girls,” Phillips said. “We work hard. We work as a family. We are strong. It’s tough to have low numbers, but we are a strong group.”

Conifer hosts Evergreen at 11 a.m. Saturday in a game were the winner likely will be in the driver’s seat.

“I kind of don’t like to think about that,” Nuccio said of Evergreen three wins away from the league title. “We are just trying to focus one game at a time and not taking anyone for granted. Green Mountain put pressure on us today.”

Green Mountain sophomore Ashlynn Reilly had a big RBI double and then Reilly scored on a deep sacrifice fly by Ransom in the bottom of the fifth inning that gave the Rams a 4-3 lead. However, Kingery retired nine of the final 11 batters she faced to give Evergreen the win.