Chatfield softball hammers walk-off home run against A-West
LITTLETON — Arvada West and Chatfield softball teams were both on the ropes at times Monday in a huge Class 5A Jeffco League match-up.
In the end, Chatfield senior Kendall Davros delivered the knock-out blow with a 2-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Chargers a dramatic 8-7 victory.
“It was a lot like the first time we played them,” Chatfield coach Darin Shepard said referring to A-West’s 12-7 win over Chatfield on Sept. 18. “The difference today is we kind of let them back in the game with mistakes ourselves. A-West is a really good team, but today our bats came back and we were able to finish it.”
Davros, who belted a 2-run home run in the bottom of the second inning to give the Chargers a 4-0 lead, came up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with sophomore Kayla Harpstreith on first base after a 1-out single and A-West leading 7-6.
“Coming up in the seventh inning my mindset was just base hit, base hit,” Davros said. “I was able to come through for my team, which was awesome.”
Chatfield’s No. 9-hole hitter ripped a shot over the right-centerfield fence to end the game. The Chargers went from leading 4-0, to A-West scoring seven unanswered runs to take a 7-4 lead before Chatfield rallied to score the final four runs to take the wild 8-7 win.
“I had a really good day at the plate today,” Davros said of her 4-for-4 with a pair of 2-run home runs and three runs scored. “I have been feeling kind of shaky the last couple of games. I knew going into today I was going to stay within myself.”
Davros leads the Chargers with eight home runs on the season and is second in RBIs with 30 from her 9-hole spot in the line-up.
“She (Davros) is one of the top hitters in the league,” Shepard said. “She is just so comfortable down there (9-hole). She is basically my second lead-off hitter. My favorite part of the line-up is when we start 9, 1, 2 because I know big things are going to happen.”
Harpstreith actually picked up the win in relief on the mound for Chatfield. Freshman Bella Leech got the start in the circle, but A-West had an incredible 4-run top of the fifth inning. The Wildcats had five consecutive singles with two outs to take a 5-4 lead.
“We are still figuring it out,” Shepard said of his pitching rotation. “Bella did a fantastic job. They just started timing her up and our defense wasn’t playing clean behind her.”
A-West (12-8, 6-4) pushed the lead to 7-4 in the top of the sixth inning with RBI singles by senior Hallie Thomas and junior Morgan Farr.
Chatfield closed the gap to 7-6 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Senior Lexi Balfanz ripped a 2-run double to cut the lead to a single run heading to the seventh inning.
Davros said the senior-laden Chargers were never panicking despite trailing late in the important game when it comes to deciding the league title.
Chatfield controls its own destiny when it comes to winning the 5A Jeffco title for the second straight year.
The Chargers and Valor Christian (17-4, 8-2) are tied atop of the conference standings. Chatfield and Valor split their two league games versus each other — Valor won the first meeting 12-3 and Chatfield won the second meeting 15-5 — so the next tiebreak is runs allowed in the two conference meetings.
“It’s amazing,” Davros said of another league title in sight. “Valor has been playing really, really well this year. It felt really good to beat them, but it will feel even better to win that league title.”
Chatfield would win the tiebreaker if the Chargers and Eagles win their final two league games and finish tied since Chatfield allowed 17 runs in its two meeting against Valor. The Eagles allowed 18 runs.
“This job isn’t over,” Shepard said. “We have struggled at Ralston Valley. I don’t think I’ve ever won at Ralston Valley in my eight years here. Then Saturday will be our Senior Game against Bear Creek. You always worry about distractions.”
Oddly, Chatfield hasn’t won at Ralston Valley since 2011. The Chargers are 0-6 their last six games played at Ralston Valley High School.
“We have to come out and play hard against two good teams to win it,” Shepard said of having the table set to repeat as league champs.
