Heritage Eagles softball accomplished something that they haven’t been able to do in nine years.
The Eagles etched out a 5-3 victory on the Mountain Vista Golden Eagles’ home field. The Golden Eagles are ranked 13th in Colorado Division 5A, while the Eagles are ranked 17th. The Golden Eagles are still maintaining a strong season at 13-8 overall, and the Eagles move one step closer to .500 at 9-10 overall.
“We’re looking at one pitch at a time, one swing at a time,” Eagles’ coach Daron Schulthies said before the match. “We have to control what we can control, and if we do all the little things, then that will help us get to victory tonight”.
The last time Heritage beat Mountain Vista was in the 2013-2014 season on September 23rd, when the Eagles beat the Golden Eagles 10-6.
Coming into the game, the Golden Eagles were enjoying a six-week winning streak late in the season.
“Teamwork”, Mountain Vista coach Kim Alanis said, was the primary factor in her team’s accomplished efforts. “Having fun and getting a ‘W’”, she said, was going to be her team’s focus while playing.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Golden Eagles’ Evelyn Tipton and Lauren Falk ran across home plate to give their team an early lead. The Eagles bounced back in the top of the fourth inning with two runs from Danielle Dawson and Sophie Mangiameli.
The breakout play was made by Eagles’ Addison Burke in the fifth inning by batting the ball over the left field fence, bringing in two runs.
“It was just a simple swing. It was a good pitch that I got. I had a lot of confidence up there”, said Burke.
Mountain Vista scored once more in the sixth. Heritage brought in another runner in the seventh.
It was a tough loss for the Golden Eagles to have played out on their home field. However, they held their heads high as they congratulated the Eagles on the win and are looking forward to finishing the season strong as they head into the playoff season.
“The rest of the season, we’re going to be very competitive, learn from this, and go out and make sure we compete in our final games leading up to regionals and state”, said Audrey Reimers, pitcher for the Golden Eagles.
Heritage will play Douglas County next. Mountain Vista will play against Legend and Highlands Ranch to finish their season.