Pine Creek Softball had beaten liberty 9-5 this past week to advance to the playoffs. Playoffs begining on October 14 against Palmer Ridge. With such a successful season coming off of a 13-9 record the previous year, there were many great games this season. “The most important thing to remember when playing softball is to brush things off and get the next play. It doesn’t matter if it’s a missed pitch, strikeout, or an error you gotta come back with the mindset that you are playing for the expectation of yourself and years from now that error isn’t going to matter, ”said Kyleigh Croyle (12).
The team ended their season with a record of 21-6 their only losses were against Pueblo County, Widefield, Vista Ridge, Pueblo Centennial, Berthoud and Holy Family. “This is the best season we have had in many years.” said Emma Harrell (12) “Our coaching staff couldn’t be more excited for the girls. They’ve done some special things this year and they’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations,” said varsity coach Travis Eberly. Coaches were very happy with the team performance.
“After narrowly missing the round of 32 last year, the girls came back hungry. Making the playoffs in any sport is a big deal, but it’s just the start. Making it this year wasn’t enough for them and they showed that last weekend. They came in focused and determined to win. They were the underdog and knew it. They never blinked, and they showed a lot of grit over three games to get the job done,” said Andrew Harrell “The girls have been putting so much effort into this year’s season to make it this far. “We start at 3:30 everyday. We always begin with a light hitting drill designed to loosen the girls upper and lower body. We then move into our stretching, throwing and “Dailies”. Dailies are exactly what they sound like. They’re a light fielding drill the girls do everyday to focus on head, eye, hand and arm control. After our warmups, we move straight into either fielding or hitting drills. We change it up often, but the focus is always being smooth and clean with every motion. Finally, we spend at least 30-45 min every practice working on situations and softball “IQ”. We create different scenarios everyday for the girls to run through mentally and physically to ensure they know what to do and where,” said Harrel.
The format for the CHSAA Softball Playoffs is a four-team regional in which only two teams advanced to the State Tournament. Those teams that will be attending in this regional will be North Ridge, Berthoud, Palmer Ridge, and Pine Creek. In the playoffs Pine Creek will have to win two games out of the three.“Throughout our journey the playoffs were a huge experience. It felt very memorable and had a huge impact on everyone’s passion for softball.” said Amber Boland (11). Palmer Ridge was the first team they played. They were beaten by Pine Creek, 8–6. The second team that our Pine Creek Eagles played was Berthoud, but Pine Creek lost 11-1. Pine Creek had to play Palmer Ridge one final time at around 2:30 pm to see if they would go to the State Tournament. Following the third game between Pine Creek and Palmer Ridge, the Pine Creek girls took another win, beating Palmer Ridge 16–14 and making it to the State Tournament! “We felt big and memorable and important in those moments and even though we lost the first game and didn’t make the championships it felt absolutely unreal.” said Amber Boland (11).
First time beating Vista Ridge In 7 Years
First time making the playoffs in 5 years
First time making it to state in 8 years
First 20 win season in program history
