Preps: Basalt softball wins on senior day, Aspen golf finishes fourth at state

Almost without fail, the Basalt High School softball team finds a way to turn it on. Until that happens, however, it can be a bit of a roller coaster much like it was Tuesday against Palisade in their regular-season finale.

“We kind of gave them a couple of runs early and then we came back. We just sort of went back and forth,” second-year BHS coach David Miller said. “Then we went up and then we let up a little bit. Then we piled on the runs, and that’s kind of how we do it, for whatever reason.”

The Longhorns won 18-9 on senior day Tuesday over Palisade on the BHS field, a seven-run sixth inning allowing them to pull away late. BHS trailed 3-0 before a seven-run second inning but them on top, but Palisade rallied to make it a 7-7 game going to the bottom of the fourth inning but couldn’t hold on after the Basalt bats re-ignited late in the contest.

“It just depends. Sometimes it’s in inning four or five or even six,” Miller said of the team coming alive. “They kind of seem to know that, ‘OK, now it’s time to really go to work and do our thing,’ and they do it.”

Palisade fell to 11-10 overall with the loss, while the non-league win caps off an impressive regular season for the Longhorns. BHS, ranked No. 5 in Class 3A this week, finished 21-1 overall and did not lose in league play.

Next up, the Longhorns are expected to host their regional tournament on Saturday, Oct. 19. Those brackets should be out either this weekend or early next week.

“It’s been a great season,” Miller said. “I’m proud of all of them. They all make contributions.”

The Aspen High School softball team hosted Rifle for senior day on Tuesday, losing 21-4. AHS (0-15) will close out its regular season with a pair of games at Montezuma-Cortez on Thursday.

Aspen boys golf finishES fourth at state tournament, Basalt 10th

Day 2 of the Class 3A boys state golf tournament wasn’t as kind as the first for Aspen High School, which started the day tied for first but ended up in fourth place in its bid to repeat as state champions.

Lutheran, which was tied with AHS after Monday’s opening round at Eisenhower Golf Course in Colorado Springs, won the 2019 state championship by shooting 34-over-par 466 for the tournament. Holy Family finished second at 39-over and Colorado Academy third at 46-over. Aspen finished 47-over after shooting 15 strokes worse in Round 2 compared to Round 1.

“We did our best,” AHS coach Mary Woulfe wrote via text. “It just wasn’t quite enough today.”

Kent Denver finished fifth, a shot behind Aspen, while Basalt finished 10th. The Longhorns saw a 15-shot improvement from the first round to the second, finishing at 77-over.

Lutheran’s Westin Pals won the individual title, beating Prospect Ridge’s Walker Franklin, the Day 1 leader, in a playoff. Both shot even par 144 over 36 holes. They finished well ahead of Holy Family’s Jacob Mason, who was third at 7-over.

Sterling’s Tayleb Schaefer, Kent Denver’s Jeffrey Zhou and Aspen’s Nic Pevny each shot 8-over 152 to tie for fourth. Four players finished in a tie for seventh at 9-over, including Aspen’s Jack Pevny.

Nic Pevny, a sophomore, shot even par on Monday and was alone in second place, but settled for 8-over 80 on Tuesday. Jack Pevny, a senior who finished fourth at state last year, was tied for third at 2-over after a day but finished his second round at 7-over.

AHS junior John Hall finished tied for 43rd at 30-over (86-88), while sophomore Lucas Lee finished 77th at 54-over. He shot 99 both days.

Basalt’s top finisher was junior Tyler Sims, who tied for 29th at 20-over after shooting 82 both rounds. Senior Blake Exelbert tied for 41st at 29-over after a five-shot improvement from Monday to Tuesday.

BHS sophomore Kyle Murray had the biggest improvement, shooting 97 on Monday but 81 on Tuesday to finish tied for 53rd at 34-over. Sophomore Braden Exelbert tied for 61st at 39-over (91-92).

Basalt soccer rolls over Moffat

The Basalt High School boys soccer team cruised to a 9-1 win over visiting Moffat County on Tuesday, with Edgar Rivas recording a hat trick. BHS also beat Moffat 10-1 on Sept. 19 in Craig.

The Longhorns, now 6-4-1, have won four straight games. They are off until Oct. 18 when they play at Roaring Fork.

ASPEN SOCCER FALLS TO COAL RIDGE

Needing a win in a big way, the Coal Ridge boys soccer team got back on track Tuesday afternoon with a 3-1 win over visiting Aspen, picking up its first win since Sept. 14.

Against the Skiers, juniors Jack Price, Moises Contreras and sophomore Eduardo Salazar scored one goal each in leading the Titans to the win.

Senior Landon Stickler and freshman James Webber picked up one assist each for the Titans.

In goal, junior Cody Connor added eight saves.

The win sees Coal Ridge improve to 3-6-1 on the year, including 1-2 in 3A Western Slope League action. Aspen fell to 1-9 overall. AHS will next host Roaring Fork at 6 p.m. Friday on the AHS turf.

— Josh Carney, Glenwood Springs Post Independent

acolbert@aspentimes.com