It wasn’t the prettiest of home victories, but Wheat Ridge’s softball team got it done when it counted Thursday afternoon.
The Farmers (2-0 record) blew a 5-0 lead giving up five runs to Highlands Ranch on three fielding errors in the top of the fourth inning. However, Wheat Ridge senior pitcher Kelly Dolan pitched three shutout innings in relief and sophomore Alyssa Hickey drove in the eventual winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Farmers a 7-5 victory.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Hickey said of the game-winning triple. “I just got up there and did what I had to do. I was just trying to get on base.”
Wheat Ridge’s bats had no problem tagging a trio of Falcon pitchers for 14 hits. Sophomore Gina Zimmerman and junior Alaina Larson each had three hits to lead the offensive attack.
“We do have hitters all through the line-up,” Wheat Ridge coach Eric Larson said.
The Farmers’ big offensive inning came in the third. Wheat Ridge posted four runs with Alaina Larson, freshman Miranda Mickelson and Zimmerman all having RBI hits.
Complete coverage of the Wheat Ridge-Highlands Ranch softball game will run in the Sept. 8 edition of the Wheat Ridge Transcript.