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BASALT — Words couldn’t do this justice.
In Saturday’s doubleheader between Basalt and Gunnison, the images told the story.
Basalt head coach Bruce Matherly anxiously tapping his right foot as he sat on a bucket of softballs. A Longhorns bench player burying her head in her oversized sweatshirt, unable to bear following every pitch.
Junior Alexa Aitken breaking for home on a daring delayed steal, barreling into Cowboys catcher Jacqueline Lovato, then emphatically stomping her cleats on home plate as the ball squirts away.
Shortstop Jamie Matherly, despondent after a string of uncharacteristic errors, atoning for her gaffes with a late sacrifice fly, scoring Connor Adams with the go-ahead run.
First baseman Jessie Anderson wiping away tears after a fielding miscue, then, fittingly, sealing victory with a sure-handed catch in foul territory.
Improbable? Astounding? Keep the adjectives coming.
For Basalt (12-4 overall, 5-1 3A District D), the task was clear Saturday: Sweep its doubleheader with league unbeaten Gunnison and secure the school’s first 3A District D championship in its four years of existence.
It was easier said than done.
Aitken scored a dramatic seventh-inning run on a steal of home as the Longhorns rallied from a four-run deficit in Game 1 to pull out a 5-4 win. On a day when one comeback wouldn’t do, Basalt overcame sloppy play and a 9-3 Cowboys lead in the second game, scoring seven times in the final two innings — five in its final at-bat, no less — en route to an 11-10 conference-title clinching win.
“This just blows me away,” Longhorns head coach Bruce Matherly said. “I’m so proud of these girls.”
“I was sitting on the bench watching the team hit and my heart was pounding,” Jamie Matherly added. “Everything is going through your head. … This is humongous. Amazing. It’s what we worked for all year.”
Basalt worked its hardest Saturday. Defending-champion Gunnison scored twice in the first inning of Game 1 on RBI singles from Lovato and Emily Raffaelli, then Rachelle Cable hit a second-inning inside-the-park home run. The Cowboys pulled ahead, 4-0, in the fourth after Lovato’s RBI single. All four runs scored with two outs.
The young Longhorns were undaunted. The first four to bat in the bottom of the fourth reached on singles. Abby King drove in a run with a well-placed bunt and Lane Calabro scored on a passed ball. No. 8 hitter Kira Selucky dealt the decisive blow, driving in two on a single up the middle to tie the game.
Basalt, which stranded three runners in scoring position through the first six innings, nearly squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the seventh. After the first three Longhorns reached, Gunnison starter Janet Peterson struck out Calabro and induced a groundout to the mound from King.
Basalt pressed the issue. Aitken wandered down the third baseline on Peterson’s delivery, then took off for the plate when Lovato fired to third for an attempted pickoff. Cowboys third baseman Gabby Kalow’s ensuing throw to the plate was off line as Aitken collided with Lovato, then touched home to seal the win.
“We had the bases loaded with no outs, then with one out and two outs. I was thinking ‘Oh God, this can’t happen. If we don’t capitalize, we give them a chance to pull away,” Matherly said. “Lyons pulled that [delayed steal] on us last year. We had been talking about it. … It’s so hard to handle the ball twice and make the play.
“I think the best quality this team has is resilience.”
That resilience was tested early in the second game when, after Peterson retired the Longhorns in the top half of the first, Gunnison capitalized on two hits and four defensive miscues to take a 4-0 lead.
“I was thinking, ‘Are the girls satisfied with one win? Do they think a split is good enough?’” Matherly said. “I hoped not.”
Basalt mounted a comeback once more in the fourth. Calabro and King led off with back-to-back doubles, Kenzie Kuhn reached on a single and later scored on an error, then Selucky drove in a run with a groundout to trim Gunnison’s lead to one.
The advantage ballooned to six after the Cowboys struck for five runs in the fourth. Roselie Haga had an RBI single, Raffaelli a run-scoring double and Lovato a sacrifice fly. Two runs scored when a grounder rolled through Jamie Matherly’s legs and into left center.
Basalt made seven errors in the game.
“It’s hard when you’re pitching your game and the backup isn’t coming through,” Aitken said. “But I knew that when I really needed them, they’d step up.”
Matherly did just that one inning later, snagging a sharp line drive and nearly pulling off a double play after a quick throw to first. In Game 1, Matherly intentionally dropped a cutoff throw, then gunned down Lovato at home.
The junior also pitched in at the plate. After Kuhn drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth, Matherly hit an RBI single and Aitken an RBI double during the team’s two-run sixth.
Still, after Lovato drove in her fourth run of the day with a single in the bottom of the sixth, The Longhorns trailed, 10-6, heading into their final at-bat.
“We made some mistakes, but we came back — that’s the mark of a good team,” King said. “We always had that hope. It was heart that did it. It was heart that got us here, and it’s what will take us further.”
After a leadoff strikeout, six straight Basalt hitters reached base. Katie King drove in a run with a weak grounder that died in front of the plate, then Adams walked with the bases loaded, cutting the deficit to two. Aitken completed the comeback with her second double in as many innings and team-leading sixth hit of the day, driving in Selucky and King.
Matherly put the Longhorns ahead for good, hitting a high fly ball to center, plenty deep to allow Adams to scamper home with the go-ahead run.
“I usually get mad when I hit it to somebody, but I know Connor is fast and could get home,” Matherly said. “[When we were trailing], I didn’t think there was much we could do. But I knew if we got the bats going, we’d have a chance.”
The bats came through. It was now the defense’s turn. With a tired right arm dangling at her side in between pitches, Aitken battled back from a 3-0 count to strike out Sarah Brown to open the bottom of the seventh. Kala Marks followed with a ringing grounder to second; Abby King gloved the ball and threw on to first without incident.
Anderson hauled in a soft fly in foul territory near first to end the drama and begin the celebration.
Finally, a chance to exhale.
Finally, a league title.
“My arm hurts a lot now, but it was worth it,” Aitken said. “I wasn’t thinking about how bad it hurt, I was thinking about how bad I wanted to win. … I think they counted us out. We weren’t about to give up.”
“I said before the season that I thought this was the year we would bust out,” Bruce Matherly added. “I think we just did.”
jmaletz@aspentimes.com
In Saturday’s doubleheader between Basalt and Gunnison, the images told the story.
Basalt head coach Bruce Matherly anxiously tapping his right foot as he sat on a bucket of softballs. A Longhorns bench player burying her head in her oversized sweatshirt, unable to bear following every pitch.
Junior Alexa Aitken breaking for home on a daring delayed steal, barreling into Cowboys catcher Jacqueline Lovato, then emphatically stomping her cleats on home plate as the ball squirts away.
Shortstop Jamie Matherly, despondent after a string of uncharacteristic errors, atoning for her gaffes with a late sacrifice fly, scoring Connor Adams with the go-ahead run.
First baseman Jessie Anderson wiping away tears after a fielding miscue, then, fittingly, sealing victory with a sure-handed catch in foul territory.
Improbable? Astounding? Keep the adjectives coming.
For Basalt (12-4 overall, 5-1 3A District D), the task was clear Saturday: Sweep its doubleheader with league unbeaten Gunnison and secure the school’s first 3A District D championship in its four years of existence.
It was easier said than done.
Aitken scored a dramatic seventh-inning run on a steal of home as the Longhorns rallied from a four-run deficit in Game 1 to pull out a 5-4 win. On a day when one comeback wouldn’t do, Basalt overcame sloppy play and a 9-3 Cowboys lead in the second game, scoring seven times in the final two innings — five in its final at-bat, no less — en route to an 11-10 conference-title clinching win.
“This just blows me away,” Longhorns head coach Bruce Matherly said. “I’m so proud of these girls.”
“I was sitting on the bench watching the team hit and my heart was pounding,” Jamie Matherly added. “Everything is going through your head. … This is humongous. Amazing. It’s what we worked for all year.”
Basalt worked its hardest Saturday. Defending-champion Gunnison scored twice in the first inning of Game 1 on RBI singles from Lovato and Emily Raffaelli, then Rachelle Cable hit a second-inning inside-the-park home run. The Cowboys pulled ahead, 4-0, in the fourth after Lovato’s RBI single. All four runs scored with two outs.
The young Longhorns were undaunted. The first four to bat in the bottom of the fourth reached on singles. Abby King drove in a run with a well-placed bunt and Lane Calabro scored on a passed ball. No. 8 hitter Kira Selucky dealt the decisive blow, driving in two on a single up the middle to tie the game.
Basalt, which stranded three runners in scoring position through the first six innings, nearly squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the seventh. After the first three Longhorns reached, Gunnison starter Janet Peterson struck out Calabro and induced a groundout to the mound from King.
Basalt pressed the issue. Aitken wandered down the third baseline on Peterson’s delivery, then took off for the plate when Lovato fired to third for an attempted pickoff. Cowboys third baseman Gabby Kalow’s ensuing throw to the plate was off line as Aitken collided with Lovato, then touched home to seal the win.
“We had the bases loaded with no outs, then with one out and two outs. I was thinking ‘Oh God, this can’t happen. If we don’t capitalize, we give them a chance to pull away,” Matherly said. “Lyons pulled that [delayed steal] on us last year. We had been talking about it. … It’s so hard to handle the ball twice and make the play.
“I think the best quality this team has is resilience.”
That resilience was tested early in the second game when, after Peterson retired the Longhorns in the top half of the first, Gunnison capitalized on two hits and four defensive miscues to take a 4-0 lead.
“I was thinking, ‘Are the girls satisfied with one win? Do they think a split is good enough?’” Matherly said. “I hoped not.”
Basalt mounted a comeback once more in the fourth. Calabro and King led off with back-to-back doubles, Kenzie Kuhn reached on a single and later scored on an error, then Selucky drove in a run with a groundout to trim Gunnison’s lead to one.
The advantage ballooned to six after the Cowboys struck for five runs in the fourth. Roselie Haga had an RBI single, Raffaelli a run-scoring double and Lovato a sacrifice fly. Two runs scored when a grounder rolled through Jamie Matherly’s legs and into left center.
Basalt made seven errors in the game.
“It’s hard when you’re pitching your game and the backup isn’t coming through,” Aitken said. “But I knew that when I really needed them, they’d step up.”
Matherly did just that one inning later, snagging a sharp line drive and nearly pulling off a double play after a quick throw to first. In Game 1, Matherly intentionally dropped a cutoff throw, then gunned down Lovato at home.
The junior also pitched in at the plate. After Kuhn drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth, Matherly hit an RBI single and Aitken an RBI double during the team’s two-run sixth.
Still, after Lovato drove in her fourth run of the day with a single in the bottom of the sixth, The Longhorns trailed, 10-6, heading into their final at-bat.
“We made some mistakes, but we came back — that’s the mark of a good team,” King said. “We always had that hope. It was heart that did it. It was heart that got us here, and it’s what will take us further.”
After a leadoff strikeout, six straight Basalt hitters reached base. Katie King drove in a run with a weak grounder that died in front of the plate, then Adams walked with the bases loaded, cutting the deficit to two. Aitken completed the comeback with her second double in as many innings and team-leading sixth hit of the day, driving in Selucky and King.
Matherly put the Longhorns ahead for good, hitting a high fly ball to center, plenty deep to allow Adams to scamper home with the go-ahead run.
“I usually get mad when I hit it to somebody, but I know Connor is fast and could get home,” Matherly said. “[When we were trailing], I didn’t think there was much we could do. But I knew if we got the bats going, we’d have a chance.”
The bats came through. It was now the defense’s turn. With a tired right arm dangling at her side in between pitches, Aitken battled back from a 3-0 count to strike out Sarah Brown to open the bottom of the seventh. Kala Marks followed with a ringing grounder to second; Abby King gloved the ball and threw on to first without incident.
Anderson hauled in a soft fly in foul territory near first to end the drama and begin the celebration.
Finally, a chance to exhale.
Finally, a league title.
“My arm hurts a lot now, but it was worth it,” Aitken said. “I wasn’t thinking about how bad it hurt, I was thinking about how bad I wanted to win. … I think they counted us out. We weren’t about to give up.”
“I said before the season that I thought this was the year we would bust out,” Bruce Matherly added. “I think we just did.”
jmaletz@aspentimes.com
