Berthoud softball wins season finale, prepares for Regionals
By Dan Karpiel
The Surveyor

Berthoud third baseman Lindsay Erickson tags out Holy Family’s Skylar Gardner at third base during the final regular season game at Bein Field on Oct. 8. The Spartans begin Regionals this Saturday.
John Gardner / The Surveyor
Momentum, confidence, a positive vibe; these are not things that one can find in a box score or with a quick glance at the season standings, but they are critically important for teams heading into the playoffs. And the Berthoud High softball team has these things, oodles of them in fact, as they prepare to begin the postseason.
The Lady Spartans came out on top in their final two regular season games, winning a road affair 7-2 on Oct. 6 against always-tough Windsor and then blanking Holy Family 3-0 at Bein Field in the season finale on Oct. 8.
“Big, big, big, it was really big for us confidence-wise,” said Berthoud Head Coach Buddy Kouns when asked after the Holy Family game about the impact of winning their final two regular season games. “Today was huge and the Tuesday game with Windsor was huge.”
Berthoud centerfielder Sydney Kouns echoed her coach’s (and uncle’s) sentiments.
“Oh it’s definitely important,” Sydney said. “It’s always good to have momentum going into the end of the season.”
Kouns, one of five seniors on the Lady Spartans squad added, “We’re really bonding and playing together as a team.”
Berthoud scored all the runs they would need to beat Holy Family in the bottom half of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Delaney Fouts reached base after working a six-pitch walk, advanced to third on a pair of passed balls by Holy Family catcher Katelyn Caviness, and crossed home plate when Taylor Armitage looped a single into shallow right field.
The RBI single was Armitage’s 18th on the season, the second-most on the team to Madi Herbert (19), and senior pitcher and shortstop led Berthoud in hits (24), runs scored (22), batting average (.400) and stolen bases (11).
Armitage also was credited with the save as the senior threw three scoreless innings, surrendering a single base hit while striking out a pair, in relief of Larissa Royer, who struck out seven and scattered three hits in four innings of work from inside the circle.
“I planned to split the game today, I wanted to get [Royer and Armitage] some work…and we played solid, Larissa struggled a little with the strike zone…she pitched herself into trouble but she pitched her way out of it,” Buddy Kouns said.
Royer pitched with traffic on the bases in each of her four innings, but worked out of every jam. In the top of the first, Holy Family’s Skylar Gardner worked a two-out walk but, when Jazmin Means singled to left field, Berthoud left fielder Tristan Pope cut Gardner down at third base with a perfect throw and textbook tag from Lindsay Erickson, for the third and final out of the inning.
Royer worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, striking out Kendall Holmes to end the inning. In the fourth, Berthoud catcher Hannah Langer cut down Caviness at second base on a steal attempt, and Royer fanned Jalen Gonzalez to end the frame.
The Lady Spartans got a pair of insurance runs when Sydney Kouns scored on a Pope single in the bottom of the fifth and Erickson, after stealing second, came around to score when Langer legged-out a single in the sixth. Sydney Kouns finished the game with a pair of hits, both soft singles that found gaps in the Holy Family defense, and enters the postseason on something of a hot streak from the plate with four hits in her last seven at bats.
“Just keep my mind clear and do whatever I can to help my team, little base hits can be help, it doesn’t always have to be homeruns every time,” she explained.
The senior centerfielder finished the regular season with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 19 put-outs and an outfield assist in 20 total chances, “I’m 100-percent comfortable out there,” the shortstop-turned-centerfielder said.
Sydney Kouns helped preserve the shutout when she chased down a short fly ball to record the third out of the fifth inning, nearly having to dive to make the grab.
“I definitely saw it off the bat so I knew the direction it was going, it died a little faster than I thought it would so I almost had to dive for it there,” she said.
With the back-to-back wins, Berthoud (12-5, 7-5) finished in third place in the Tri-Valley Conference and got a favorable draw for 4A Regionals. The Lady Spartans enter double-elimination Regionals as the nine seed and will travel to Longmont where the remainder of their bracket is comprised of host-team and eight-seed Silver Creek (13-5-1, 1-3), 24-seed Green Mountain (12-7, 4-4) and 25-seed Mead (9-10, 3-9). The Lady Spartans will face Green Mountain in game one, scheduled for a 10 a.m. first pitch, on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Coach Kouns is pleased with the draw and also likes the fact that his team will have to travel, but not a long distance, for Regionals saying, “I like to be on the road, I think we’re a better road team anyway.”
“I think we’re very good defensively, I think we’re good from inside the circle and I think we’re a scary hitting team,” said Buddy Kouns. “We’re a team somebody doesn’t want to face because when we click it’s scary.”
- August, 21 2014
First game a game of firsts for Lady ...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor It was their first game of the season. It was...
- October, 19 2018
Lady Spartans are regional champions ...
Photo by Tiffany Rafferty - Berthoud High School softball team after winning the regional championship...
- September, 03 2015
Lady Spartans back to winning ways
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor It was only a matter of time. It didn’t take...
- November, 24 2014
Berthoud’s Jessi Boruff to play ball ...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor Berthoud's Jessi Boruff and her parents,...
- August, 25 2016
Lady Spartans notch all-important fir...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor The first step is often the hardest one. In scratching...
- September, 10 2014
Lady Spartans reign supreme at Sparta...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor The Berthoud High School...
- Dick Monfort breaks his silence, addr...
- Berthoud baseball ends season with me...
- Spartan baseball flies by Summit with...
- Sandstedt brings tremendous experienc...
- Boys basketball rides highs ad lows t...
- Berthoud boys pick up first win of th...
- Berthoud golf team takes home R2J Cha...
- Berthoud’s Christian Foxworth State B...
- Berthoud golfers begin season swing
- Future appears bright for Berthoud so...
- SportsRoundUp – BHS Golf &...
- Soccer – Berthoud scores huge win in ...
- Cross-country place seventh and ninth...
- Berthoud Girls win cross country regi...
- Berthoud girls play chase
- Young Spartans win championship
- Halloween spooky in Severance for Ber...
- Berthoud wins double-overtime thrille...
- Berthoud girls basketball season ends...
- Berthoud girls great in Great Eight w...
- Berthoud girls dominate Golden 69-46,...
- TPC Colorado hosting Best-Ball Tourna...
- Berthoud golfer Kyra McDonald qualifi...
- Spartans sports roundup
- A meet to remember for the Berthoud s...
- Lady Spartans place second Tri-Valley...
- Berthoud girl’s swimming lookin...
- Spartan tennis dominates Mountain Vie...
- Spartans sports roundup
- Berthoud High School sports roundup
- Berthoud girls take second conference...
- Buckley, Siruta, Schmad and Rafferty ...
- Bonds off the track lead to record-br...
- Berthoud wrestlers top Sterling for r...
- Two Spartan wrestlers earn titles at ...
- Fifth-ranked Berthoud grapplers prepa...
LCSO Deputy Profile – Zack Anderson
Local NewsLife saving organ donation radically changes local man’s life
Health & FitnessGreat news for Berthoud
Local News2020 Overview: Part 2
Local NewsAccident near Fickel Park Monday
Local News
COMMUNITY CALENDAR:
Community Calendar – add an eventSing Out for SafeHouse 2021
14 Mar 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM