More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
WHEAT RIDGE – Ralston Valley rallied from an early 5-0 hole to defeat Wheat Ridge 10-9 in a cross-classification Jeffco matchup on Thursday.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, beat 4A No. 4 Wheat Ridge 10-9.
“Today was not a good game for us,” said Ralston Valley coach Wendy Davies. “The defense wasn’t very strong at the very beginning. The positive is that we came back and scored ten after being down by five.”
It was Ralston Valley’s ninth win in a row, while the loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Wheat Ridge.
“As long as we can continue to grow, I think the sky is the limit,” Davies said.
Ralston Valley began its comeback in the third inning, when it loaded the bases twice.
First, two runs were brought in by a nice hit from Eldredge. Then senior Rylie Strong plated two more runs to cut the lead to 5-4. Ralston Valley then carried that momentum with three quick outs in the bottom half of the inning.
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Asked what she was thinking down 5-0, Eldredge said, “Keep pushing, keep going no matter what was the score, no matter the errors, keep going until the end.”
Ralston Valley caught fire in the fifth inning and was able to tie the game, then quickly take a 6-5 lead. A big hit from sophomore Giana Browdy in the outfield lead to three runs, giving Ralston Valley nine unanswered runs.
Even after giving up a big lead, Wheat Ridge was going to finish strong. Down 10-6 in the seventh, the Farmers gained momentum from their defense with three quick outs.
Ralston Valley got two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh, and looked like it was going to get a third — until Wheat Ridge senior Christina Nelson homered to cut it to 10-7. Shortly after, senior Devin Bushner hit a two-run home run to make it 10-9.
Just when it looked like Farmers were going to duplicate a comeback, the Mustangs were able to get their third and final out, ending the game.
Wheat Ridge coach Marty Stricklett was disappointed in his team’s loss and felt that they let one get away from them.
“We need to work on our defense,” the coach said. “We hit the ball well at the beginning and at the end. We took a five inning nap and made a couple of critical errors.”