GOLDEN — In a softball game featuring 17 runs and 27 hits, it actually came down to pitching Saturday afternoon at Golden High School.
Golden junior pitcher Cassidy Paulson retired 10 of 11 final D’Evelyn batters she faced to help the Demons, ranked No. 6 in the current CHSAANow.com Class 4A softball poll, to a 9-8 victory over their 4A Jeffco rival.
“Cass has matured mentally over her tenure here at the school. She has the idea that she is never out of it,” Golden coach Chad Herbers said. “She continues to throw strikes and knows we are going to respond with some runs at some point. Everyone feels that same way.”
Golden’s Jade Gomez-Chavarria, left, forces out D’Evelyn’s Bailey Marvel at second base. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
D’Evelyn junior Bella Porreco led the Jaguars to back-to-back 3-run innings in the top of the third and fourth to give D’Evelyn a 8-7 lead. Golden had actually jumped out to a 7-2 lead with a 7-run top of the second inning.
Porreco, daughter of head coach Dan Porreco, belted a 3-run home run in the third inning and blooped in a 3-run double in the fourth inning to give the Jaguars the lead.
“I have to give our girls a lot of credit after that 7-run inning. They showed a lot of character,” Coach Porreco said. “Golden has a great team. It was a great game. Anyone could have won that game.”
Golden regained the lead with a 2-run bottom of the fourth inning with a lead-off single by senior Megan Feiner, followed up by an RBI triple by senior Mickayla Zamora. A ground out by senior Madison Campbell allowed Zamora to score to give the Demons a 9-8 lead through four innings.
Surprisingly, it would be the final run of the game as Paulson and D’Evelyn sophomore Rylee Waggoner, who came in to pitch for the Jaguars in the second inning, settled in.
“I realized my fast curve and screwball were kind of getting hit pretty hard,” Paulson said. “My off-speed was the savor today.”
D’Evelyn could muster just one base runner in the final three innings. Freshman Kylee Ornstein singled with two outs in the top of the seventh, but she was forced out at second base to end the game.
D’Evelyn’s Kate Fuhr, right, tags out Golden’s Marla Goodspeed at third base. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Golden, who moved into the state rankings just last week, used its monster bottom of the second inning to win its third straight conference game. Sophomore Makenzie Middleton had the big hit with a grand slam off D’Evelyn starting pitcher Jamie Lefevre.
“Right now, either one of the twins (Makenzie and Makayla Middleton) coming up to bat with any base runners on base is a win,” Herbers said. “I’ll take those chances any day.”
The home run was Makenzie’s 11th of the season for the Demons (13-3, 3-1 in league). The Middleton twins have combined for 47 RBIs and 56 hits this season.
“I can’t get a grand slam without my teammates,” Makenzie said.
Golden is in good position to place second in 4A Jeffco behind three-time defending state champion Valor Christian (16-0, 4-0) and grab an automatic bid for the postseason.
The Demons are scheduled to finish of their regular season with league games next week against Evergreen (Wednesday) and Standley Lake (Thursday) before a non-league game against Heritage (Friday).
“We hope to get those wins,” Makenzie said going into the Demons’ final three regular-season games. “We work as a team. We are pretty good.”
D’Evelyn (11-5, 3-1) as a pair of tough conference games left against Valor (Monday) and rival Wheat Ridge (Wednesday). Coach Porreco likes finishing the regular season with some good competition to get ready for the playoffs.
“We obviously know they are a great team. They are the three-time defending state champion,” Coach Porreco said of playing Valor. “We’ll give them our best on Monday.”
D’Evelyn junior Bella Porreco (1) is greeted at home plate after her 3-run home run against Golden. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)