AURORA – Since the beginning of the season, Chatfield’s seniors' goal was righting last season’s wrongs and bringing home the program’s first softball state title in over two decades.
They accomplished that goal Saturday with their 11-3 ousting of Erie.
“It’s been my dream ever since last year,” senior and championship MVP Karlie Cooledge said. “Ever since we went out first round of state last year, I was like, I’m coming back next year and I’m going to win it.”
Chatfield almost suffered that same fate again during this championship run. They went down 3-2 to Valor Christian in the fifth inning of their first-round matchup, and, after re-taking the lead, surrendered two seventh-inning runs to push the game to extra innings.
“We had some adversity early, in that first game,” head coach Darin Shepard said after securing the title. “We didn’t quite play up to par and we played some tough competition, but we came through in the end.”
The Chargers ultimately survived in eight innings and, from that point on, rolled to the state title game.
Cooledge delivered a pitching master class to help lift Chatfield to the win on Saturday. She held a Tiger attack that had tallied at least five runs in every other postseason contest to just one run through the first four innings and three runs total.
Chatfield’s bats were the story of the day though.
After being kept practically silent through the game’s first three innings, and falling into an 0-1 hole, they all simultaneously ignited in the fourth inning. The Chargers tallied six runs before the Tigers could record a single out, with the rally ultimately ending at 7-1. Erie would narrow the lead to 7-2 in the fifth inning, but in the top of sixth, Chatfield struck again, knocking home four runs and bringing the game to the brink of a mercy rule.
Those two explosive innings for the Chargers locked up Chatfield’s second state title ever, and their first since 1997, ending a drought nearly a decade older than every player on the team.
Although the tournament had a bitter ending for Erie, their run to the state championship game still demonstrated tremendous growth for a program that is just two years removed from playing in and winning the 4A tournament.
Now, through just two seasons in 5A, the Tigers have reached the final four twice, and finals once.