Discovery Canyon, Florence edged in 3A softball

AURORA • Discovery Canyon had its state softball opener stolen away from it on a steal of home in the first inning Friday. Higher-seeded Faith Christian defeated the Thunder 1-0 in the 3A state tournament at Aurora Sports Park.

Strong fielding, led by freshman center fielder Shelby Hetzel, helped limit Faith Christian’s offense. But the 12th-seeded Thunder struggled to get on base.

Despite the loss, Thunder coach Tanya Ramsay said her team made a great start to building a good softball tradition at Discovery Canyon.

“The girls got a taste of it, and I don’t think they’ll let it go,” Ramsey said of her squad’s first state appearance.

All the girls have the opportunity to play next year, since there are no seniors on the team.

Despite the loss, the players’ spirits were good.

“Faith Christian has, at times, scored 16 runs on opponents,” Hetzel said of their fifth-seeded opposition. “We held them to one. There should be no heads down — we should be proud.”

The mood was a bit more somber for Florence players and fans. The Huskies lost 3-2 in a nail-biter against third-seeded Valley in 3A.

Down two runs in the fourth, Casey Chaney, Ally Camerlo, Kalli Conway and Margarita Garcia all got on base for Florence’s strongest inning, but only Chaney crossed the plate, bringing the 14th-seeded Huskies within one.

A single in the fifth inning by Florence’s Kelsi Conway sent in teammate Tomi-Jo Thompson to tie the game at two.
But Valley answered quickly with a homer in the bottom of the fifth and the Huskies couldn’t muster any more runs.

“It was just a heck of a ball game,” Florence coach Kip Christensen said. “That’s why you coach. Both sides were playing well.

“It’s never easy coming up on the losing side.”

Overall, Christensen was happy with the way his squad played. Like Discovery Canyon, the Huskies lost by one run to a higher-ranked team.

“Overall, I think we did awesome,” junior Amanda Butcher said. “We came out ready to play. It was just another game … with a big title.”