By Scott Stocker

The players labored hard over the two days of the Mountain Range Invitational Softball Tournament, September 4-5. After all, the eight team invitational was nearly played on the eve of the Labor Day holiday.

As it turned out, host Mountain Range was able to labor the hardest as the Mustangs of coach Dane Craig were able to win all three of their games in an impressive fashion. The Mustangs galloped by Rampart, 16-8, in its championship game, beat Horizon, 14-5, in the semifinals and come through with a 16-0 victory over Rangeview in their opener.

Mountain Range certainly turned the heat up, on a warm day to begin with, as the Mustangs scored five runs in the top of the first inning against Rampart, then tacked on four more in the second inning for a 9-0 lead. Rampart would rebound in the second inning as the Rams, coached by Ryan Sheets, would score six times.

Leading the way for Mountain Range through the tournament was Riley Craig. She would come through with 11 hits, score nine times and drive in 11 runs. Her championship game accounted for a sensational seven runs driven in from four hits.

“I don’t have any regrets as a team as we all had fun and that made it much easier to play in our tournament,” said Craig after the tournament championship game. “We just wanted to go out and play hard and keep our momentum up on the field. Rock On.”

Rampart’s Madison Gerchow had a pretty good effort against Mountain Range, but she certainly had hoped her team wouldn’t have dropped so far behind so quickly.

“I think we all gave it a good effort and I’m proud that we were able to score eight runs on such a good team,” Gerchow said. “The key is for me to keep my composure, regardless of errors. We have such a young team, only two seniors, two juniors and the rest sophomores and freshman. I think we do have some excellent expectations and this has been a pretty good start for us.”

Hunter Huser and Valerie Ortega also had a fine tournament effort as Mountain Range improved to 6-0, while Rampart would drop to 3-1 on the young season. Huser, would also be credited with the win on the mound against Rampart.  

“We played a lot better as a team here than last year,” Huser said. “Rampart gave us a good game. We were able to put the pressure on and go through it. We just want to keep our pressure up to have a good season. “

Ortega didn’t have the tournament at the plate as she had hoped, but in the field, she was darn good.

“We did have fun and we are becoming very close as a team,” Ortega said. “We need to keep moving. The key for me is just to work hard for me and for the team. We need to move on from our tournament and to make sure we prepare ourselves for the season.”

Craig was pleased with the effort that his team came through with and he just hopes they can keep their efforts up though the season.

“I think this was much better than last year as we certainly had a lot of good competition,” Craig said. “We were a little flat at times, but the kids got their pulses up. My seniors stepped up. Riley was on top of her game, but we had the girls come through when they needed.

“I’m confident the girls will continue to play hard through the season,” said Craig. “We also have some fine freshmen and they also played well. You can only hope the trend continues through the year. It was a good effort for the girls to see how they are now and how they can improve.”

Shortstop Ally Richter had one of her finest games against Horizon coming though for three hits and a pair of runs driven across the plate.

“It was exciting to have such good competition from our nearby rival,” said Richter, who would eventually score four times in the championship. “We came out and we played hard as a team. I just want to play hard for the team and not for myself. Our hitting has been a key and we’ve been able to get good contact on the ball. I’m excited for how we have been able to do. Now, we just need to keep it up.”

Mountain Range got off to a high level beginning in the first game of the tournament as the Mustangs galloped to their decisive 16-0 victory against Rangeview. Indeed, Craig certainly helped establish dominance as she batted four-for-four and drove in seven runs. In the meantime, freshman Montana Alley was pretty good as she knocked in three runs for the winners.

In all, Mountain Range also accounted for 16 hits to go with its 16 runs as it rolled to victory in their tournament opener. Yet, the Mustangs proved to be as impressive in the pitchers box as Huser and Alyssa Guadiana combined for a no-hitter.

Mountain Range got this one over early, as mentioned, as the Mustangs scored seven runs in the first inning. They would close out their scoring in game one with six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Horizon opened its portion of the tournament with a 15-7 victory against Bear Creek. The Hawks were then beaten by Mountain Range, but they then rebounded for an 11-2 victory over Poudre in the third place game.

Horizon’s Taylor Humphries and Aubree Karraker had some solid play during the tournament and for the most part, coach Gary Mares was pleased with the way in which his players handled themselves.

“I think we started slow, but our hitting came through,” Humphries said. “We just hope to go strong this season and stay focused on what we have to accomplish. I think we could have hit better overall against Mountain Range. We had some defensive errors and that really hurt us. They are a big rival and that right there pushed me. We just all want to do well this season.”

Added Karraker, “We did get our defense up and our pitching did well. Overall, we did a pretty good job in the tournament. I was hitting well, though, until the last game. But I think we can do well the rest of the season.”

And so does Mares.

“We were able to rebound and win 11-2 for third and that says a lot about our kids,” Mares said. “We’re just going to get better. It was a good comeback after losing to Mountain Range. The girls were keeping their heads in the game and they just came out to finish strong.

“We had to play catchup against Mountain Range and that’s not good,” continued Mares. “We just can’t give up and always try to come back strong and to learn from our mistakes. We start five pretty good sophomores and we just can’t give away any outs.”

Indeed, Horizon’s opener against Bear Creek, a 15-7 victory, went smooth, according to Courtnie Heller and Mares.

“We spent so much time together and we’ve just come ready to compete and come together as a team,” Heller said. “We had a lot of practice and we’re patient. We just want to be together in all situations and bring everything out.”

Just what Mares wants, too.

“We played hard for all our 21 outs against them,” Mares said. “We were down 7-2 and we have to take our hats off to how the girls battled back. They have the will to compete – compete – compete. Our pitcher, Miranda Medrano, came in and gave us a chance. Madelynne blood-Smyth came through with her sacrifice to help give us the team winning run. You just need to go hard for all of our 21 outs. We came back with a lot of heart and determination in this one.”

Arapahoe came through to win the Consolation title in the tournament beating Bear Creek, 5-4. The Warriors were beaten by Poudre, 10-7, in their quarterfinal, but came back to beat Westminster, 7-0, in a 10 inning game in which they scored all seven runs in the top of the tenth.

Rachel Stoneking was credited with the pitching win against Westminster, gaining high praise from coach Jeannie Krueger.

“I’m coming off an injury and it just feels so good to be back in the game,” Stoneking said. “It was a long game and we preserved. We just gave it on of our best efforts. I knew they were not going to give up, either. I was hurt two weeks ago and it’s good to be back.”

Added Krueger, “Rachel was on fire as she came through with 13 strikeouts and only allowed three walks. We just wanted her to stay focused and that’s just what she was able to do. We had good focus and good concentration from all the girls in this one. I just wanted all the girls to stay focused and to be strong behind her.”

Despite the loss against Arapahoe, Bear Creek coach, Amanda Keesey, was fairly pleased with how her team played in the tourney. Bears Dakota Abeyta and Erin Hallman also felt their teammates gave it a good effort.

“This was a good tournament with a good level of competition and I think we have learned a lot as a team,” Keesey said. “We’ve had good competition now before beginning our league. I saw a lot of good efforts from our pitchers and we just want all our players to get better.”

“We have room for improvement and to definitely focus on what we need to accomplish,” continued Abeyta. “We just need to get better as a team. We need to adjust to pitching and to hit well when we need to. I felt I did well defensively in the tournament.”

Added Hallman, “I thought I did personally good. We definitely have room for improvement and we will all do better. We needed to adjust to pitchers and just to keep our heads in the game.”

Westminster coach, Alexandra Dickinson, had hoped for better results, but knew it was going to be difficult coming in. The Wolves beat Rangeview, 16-6, in their tourney final.

“We were second in this tournament last year, but we have lost a lot of girls,” Dickinson said. “It’s a rebuilding season and the girls have to practice hard and come out to play. I feel confident. This is our first win of the year and we just want to get better every game.”

Certainly the thoughts of Westminster’s Kaylee Herring and Maya Galizia.

“It was a tough tournament and today gave us a lot of excitement,” Herring said. “We have a lot to learn and we just want to go forward with good attitudes. It’s early and we have a ways to go.”

“This is a fantastic tournament and there was a lot of good competition,” Galizia said in conclusion. “Our key is to keep trying and not to get our heads down. It can be rough at times, we all know that. We just have to practice hard and be ready to play.”

And, it looks as if this tournament has helped a lot of girls get ready for their league seasons.