Mountain Range won the Class 5A softball championship. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — Mountain Range had never been to the Class 5A softball state tournament. In fact, they didn’t even start a program until 2009.
On Sunday afternoon at the Aurora Sports Park, the Mustangs made history by winning their first-ever softball state championship after defeating Pomona 12-2 in six innings.
It was the school’s second state championship in any sport. They also won 4A gymnastics in 2007.
For Mountain Range, 2015 was a culmination of a seven-year process for Dane Craig, who is the lone coach in program history.
“It puts us on the map for softball and puts us on the map for sports, in general,” Craig said. “It’s been nine years and we hadn’t had any state berths at all, but we came into this year and we ran the table. It was absolutely fantastic. History was made today for Mountain Range High School.”
So, how did they get here?
After going down 1-0 in the fourth inning on a steal of home plate and then 2-0 in the fifth after a two-out RBI single by Jessica Espinoza, the floodgates opened for the ‘Stangs.
First, there was an error. Then, an RBI bunt by Trinity Gallegos. Then, Gallegos scored on an error. After that—five more errors and five more runs, seven of each, plus three hits — gave Mountain Range a 7-2 lead on Pomona after one of the more chaotic fifth innings you’ll ever see. Once the Mustangs grabbed the lead, they poured it on with five more runs in the sixth, earning the 10-run rule and a state title.
“We had to change something up,” Craig said. “We were down two runs and our bats weren’t getting it done. We decided to go small ball and see if they could defend well and before you knew it we had four or five runs and we are winning the whole thing.”
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
It seemed an appropriate wild finish to a crazy day of 5A softball that started with a 13-11 Pomona win over Fossil Ridge in eight innings and ended with 12 runs in two innings by Mountain Range in the finals.
Despite the pandemonium, through it all the Mustangs knew they could rely on their ace on the mound, junior Hunter Huser, who held Chaparral to two runs during a 4-2 semifinals victory, and Pomona to two runs.
“I told everybody at the beginning of the year that she was the best pitcher in the state,” Craig said. “The last two weeks, she proved it on the biggest platform. She stepped up huge, had great defense behind her, and was never fazed one time.”
Huser was quick to credit her teammates, as well.
“We always have each other’s back,” she said. “No one is ever worried. We can always pick each other up.”
In the end, for a team with a mixture of experience and youth, boasting six seniors and even three freshmen, the Mustangs proved to have the perfect recipe in 2015. They finished with a 23-2 record and a No. 18 national ranking by MaxPreps.
Pomona, a No. 14 seed in the 5A tournament, completed a 19-7 campaign. Certainly their season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion, but the Panthers were a bit of a Cinderella story after tying for third in the Jefferson County Conference and earning the No. 15 seed for Regionals last weekend.
They actually lost to Chaparral 13-12, but took out Grand Junction Central 15-13 to seal a bid to the state tournament.
The Panthers, who have never won state in softball, lost their fourth title game. They were also the runner-up in 2005 in 5A, 1993 in 6A, and 1987 when there were no classifications.