Arvada West sophomore Brittany Phillips was locked in Saturday morning at Standley Lake High School. Phillips picked up the victory on the mound and also drove in three runs during the Wildcats’ 16-4 victory against the Gators. (Dennis Pleuss)
WESTMINSTER — Arvada West sophomore Brittany Phillips was all business on the softball field Saturday morning as the Wildcats took on area rival Standley Lake.
Still, Phillips was able to breakaway from her focused look and flash a quick smile after a game-ending double play wrapped up a 16-4 victory for the Wildcats in five innings. Phillips picked up her first win on the mound this season pitching a complete game. She gave up four runs off six hits on the Gators’ home field.
“I try to get her (Phillips) to smile every once in awhile, but I know she is more focused when she is locked in like that,” A-West coach Brenna Millikan said. “I just let her do her thing. I like her intensity.”
Arvada West pitcher Brittany Phillips fires toward home plate during the Wildcats’ 16-4 victory Saturday against former Class 5A Jeffco League rival Standley Lake. (Dennis Pleuss)
Phillips had a rough first two outing on the hill this season. She gave up 11 runs in a 12-0 loss to Broomfield in the Wildcats’ season opener and surrendered another three runs in less than an inning pitched against Chaparral on Wednesday in an 18-8 loss.
The sophomore looked solid against A-West’s former Class 5A Jeffco rival. She also had a big day at the plate going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run home run in the Wildcats’ 10-run fourth inning.
“That felt really good,” Phillips said of her blast that cleared the fence in centerfield. “I just saw the ball really well today.”
A five-run top of the first inning gave A-West a nice lead early. The Wildcats pilled on the runs in the top of the fourth inning with the first 11 batters in the inning reaching safely. Sophomore Delaney Fletcher had a two-run double in the inning and the Wildcats took advantage of four walks in the frame.
A-West finished the game with 15 hits while batting around in both the first and fourth innings.
“I think we had a good focus at the plate today,” Millikan said. “We were having good quality at-bats, seeing good pitches and driving in those runs when we needed to.”
Freshman Morgan Clausen had a great game at the plate going 3-for-5 with a trio of RBIs for the Wildcats (2-2 record). It was the second win in less than 24 hours. A-West took a 12-7 victory against Grand Junction on Friday.
“We are a really young team, but we are all really focused and want to win,” Phillips said of the Wildcats that have just two seniors this season.
Standley Lake (0-3) has faced a brutal early schedule facing a pair of teams ranked in the CHSAANow.com 5A softball preseason poll. No. 6 Dakota Ridge and No. 1 Legacy both defeated the Gators earlier this week.
A drop in enrollment at Standley Lake pushed the Gators into the 4A Jeffco League this season, but longtime coach Carrie Ott fully expects her team to learn from playing stiff competition.
“To keep fighting and if you want to win at the end of the season you’ve got to play tough during the season,” Ott said about what the early losses will teach her squad. “I intentionally schedule hard (teams) and I’ll never back off from that.”
Despite trailing 16-1 going to the bottom of the fourth inning Saturday, the Gators put together a nice three-run inning highlighted by an RBI double by senior Siara McCain off the bench.
“We have to keep working hard as we move forward,” Ott said. “We want to peak at the end of the season.”
Arvada West freshman Morgan Clausen (12) slides safely into home before Standley Lake junior Hannah Rose can put down a tag during the first inning Saturday at Standley Lake High School. (Dennis Pleuss)