Photo by Will Cornelius
Senior Cemryn Pickett pitching in the first inning against Valley High School on Aug. 15.

By Will Cornelius
The Surveyor

Spartan softball lost a handful of great players due to graduation last season. But you would not know it if you saw Berthoud High School’s (BHS) varsity softball team in their season opener against the Valley High School Vikings late Tuesday afternoon. The Spartans routed the Vikings 16-0 in Gilcrest in a game that only lasted three innings.

“I was super excited how they rose to the occasion. The girls that had not played a lot, came out and they played with confidence and got after it,” said Head Softball Coach Buddy Kouns after the game. Any sense of trepidation quickly dissipated as BHS put on a scoring clinic at the top of the opening inning.

Sophomore Willow Gray led off batting with a single before junior Lily Dodd hit a ball deep center field for a triple and RBI. The Spartans were only just getting started. Dodd alone had two triples and two RBIs in the first inning. “It felt great, especially compared to how I hit last season,” she said after the game. Along with Dodd, Gray, Jessa Jorrisen and Shaylee Spears all managed two base hits apiece as well in the first inning.

“We hit the ball well,” Kouns commented. In the first inning alone, BHS had 12 hits and 12 runs before the Vikings could get a third out. For Valley High School it was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, as their batters then had to face the Spartans’ returning All-State honorable mention pitcher, Cemryn Pickett. The senior pitching ace picked off right where she finished last season, getting three quick strikeouts to close out the first inning.

The Spartans picked up another two runs in the second inning as Gray and Issabelle Guzman ran across home plate to make it 14-0 for BHS. The Vikings came back out to bat, but any hopes for runs were quickly extinguished after Gray made a spectacular running catch on a fly ball in right field for the first out before Pickett added another two strikeouts to put the Spartans back in the batter’s box.

With the game in hand by the third inning, the Spartans started rotating in bench players. Another two runs made it 16-0. Dodd then took over from Pickett in the circle and left no doubt about the pitching depth for BHS. After two strikeouts, Dodd fielded a short hit before tossing it to first base for the final out of the game.

“Lily (Dodd) stepped up today, she had a couple of big hits,” Kouns said in admiration about the ascendent junior. This year Dodd has moved to first base, a new position for her, while still pitching too. “What I was really thrilled with, is Cemryn (Pickett) and Lily (Dodd) pounded the strike zone. They were always around the strike zone,” Kouns stated about the team’s pitching performance.

With a great start to the season, Dodd feels the team has the potential to make noise in the postseason. “With the team we have and the depth we have, I definitely think we should go far, especially in the postseason. I think this could be our year to make it all the way through state,” she said with a smile.

That journey continues tonight against Standley Lake High School at 4:30 p.m. at BHS. The following day will see rivals Roosevelt High School come to Berthoud for a 6 p.m. Friday night showdown. “Friday night we got Roosevelt and that will be a bigger test,” Kouns said in closing.