AURORA - The top eight seeds of the 4A Softball State Championships Round of 32 bracket held true on Saturday, as Holy Family, Riverdale Ridge, D’Evelyn, Lutheran, Discovery Canyon, Berthoud, Windsor and Pueblo County all went undefeated and captured the two wins required to secure a spot in the upcoming Round of 16 bracket.
The remaining eight spots will go to the winners of the consolation brackets – Elizabeth, Frederick, Greeley West, Niwot, Pine Creek, Pomona, Pueblo West, and Roosevelt.
The full Round of 16 bracket will be reseeded and released on Monday with play beginning in the first and quarterfinal round games on Friday. Semifinals and finals will take place on Saturday. All games in the Round of 16 will be played at the Aurora Sports Park
No. 1 seed Holy Family cruised through its two games without giving up a run, as it defeated No. 32 Boulder, 12-0, and No. 16 Roosevelt, 10-0, at Broomfield Industrial Park to secure its state tournament berth. Roosevelt will be joining the Tigers at states, as it knocked off No. 17 Mesa Ridge, 5-1, in the consolation round.
No. 2 Riverdale Ridge dominated Site 2, beating No. 31 Eagle Valley, 12-0, in the first round and then No. 18 Niwot, 16-3, in the second round. Niwot, which upset No. 15 Golden, 6-4, in the first round, had to again face the Demon’s again in the second-round consolation game, where they came away with a 15-9 victory to advance to the state tournament’s Round of 16 bracket.
No. 3 D’Evelyn and No. 14 Pomona both advanced to the state tournament through Site 3 at D’Evelyn High School. D’Evelyn went undefeated through the Round of 32, defeating No. 30 Palisade, 12-2, and then Pomona, 8-1. Pomona rebounded in the consolation round and secured the state tournament bid by holding on for a 9-8 win over No. 19 Cheyenne Mountain.
At Site 4, the Salisbury Equestrian Park in Parker, No. 4 Lutheran cruised to a state tournament berth, as it didn’t give up a single run to No. 29 Severance in the first round, winning 10-0, or No. 13 Greeley West in the second round, winning 11-0. Greeley West dominated in its consolation game though, downing Severance 11-1 to advance to the state bracket.
Discovery Canyon became the first team through to the state bracket out of Site 5, defeating No. 28 Green Mountain, 12-2, and then No. 12 Frederick, 13-6. Frederick became the second school to clinch a spot in the state’s Round of 16 bracket, as it rebounded with an 8-3 win over Air Academy in the consolation round.
No. 6 Berthoud scored in the bottom of the seventh to escape an upset bid by No. 27 Northridge in the first round, winning 4-3. Berthoud carried the momentum into its next game, defeating No. 22 Pine Creek, 11-1, to secure its spot in the state bracket. Pine Creek then picked up a must-win, upsetting No. 11 Palmer Ridge for the second time on the day, 16-14, to also advance to states.
At Windsor High School, Windsor – the Site 6 hosts – won a pair of nailbiters to get through to the Round of 16. Windsor used a run in the bottom of the sixth in its first-round game to escape No. 26 Grand Junction, 5-4, and then the Wizards then gave up five runs in the first inning of its second-round game against No. 10 Pueblo West. That’s all Windsor would allow though, as the offense scored the game’s final six runs to escape with a 6-5 victory.
Pueblo West will join Windsor in the Round of 16 state bracket as it knocked off No. 26 Grand Junction, 15-0, in the second-round consolation game.
No. 8 Pueblo County had a tough time getting through its first round, as it won a high-scoring affair against No. 25 Mead, 16-15, before settling in to defeat No. 9 Elizabeth, 8-4, in the second round. Elizabeth, which defeated No. 24 Conifer twice – in the first round, 5-4, and 8-2 in the second round – will join Pueblo County in the Round of 16 state bracket.
Advancing Teams
Site 1: Holy Family, Roosevelt
Site 2: Riverdale Ridge, Niwot
Site 3: D’Evelyn, Pomona
Site 4: Lutheran, Greeley West
Site 5: Discovery Canyon, Frederick
Site 6: Berthoud, Pine Creek
Site 7: Windsor, Pueblo West
Site 8: Pueblo County, Elizabeth