Photo by Will Cornelius
Senior pitcher Cemryn Pickett collected nine strikeouts in the opening round of the 4A state softball tournament against Frederick High School to finish the season with 202 strikeouts.

By Will Cornelius
The Surveyor
Same team, the same strategy, but this time it went against the Spartans. In their second matchup of the season, Berthoud High School’s varsity softball team took on Frederick High School in the opening round of the 4A state softball tournament in Aurora last Friday. Sound pitching combined with timely hits by Frederick saw them jump out to an early lead they would never relinquish as they defeated Berthoud 4-1.
“Tough. It was a tough game. They were able to take advantage of their opportunities and we left some opportunities out there,” said Head Softball Coach Buddy Kouns after the loss. “I mean that was the difference in the game.”
The two teams met during the regular season on Sept. 11 when the Spartans traveled to Frederick. Trailing by two runs in the seventh inning, Berthoud rallied with three runs to win that game 8-7. However, in Aurora, Frederick was able to halt the Spartan’s prolific batting, limiting them to a single run in the opening inning. “They capitalized on base runners and we left a lot of base runners on,” Kouns mentioned.
Pitching from the circle for the final time as a Spartan was senior Cemryn Pickett who collected nine strikeouts while giving up five hits.       “They didn’t hit her hard all day. I mean they didn’t hit a ball hard all day. That’s what Frederick does though, that’s how they win, that’s how they beat teams. They’re a really, really difficult matchup. They’re a difficult matchup for everybody,” Kouns explained. Pickett finished her senior season with 202 strikeouts and 642 over her entire high school career. Earlier this fall, the standout pitcher accepted a scholarship to Utah Tech where she will continue her softball career.
Runs were at a premium for Berthoud as they were only able to score one from seven hits. “We just couldn’t string things together,” Kouns lamented. Leading the team in hits was junior Mollie McCrae with two. Lexie Griffin, Annabelle Hughes, Shaylee Spears, Alanna Lukensow and Pickett all finished with a single hit.
“It’s less of a reflection of us and more of a testament to how their pitcher threw. She did a nice job. I think we had seven hits, she scattered those seven hits. When we would get baserunners on, she would make pitches. She kept us off balance, she used her off-speed stuff really, really effectively and we could never figure her out,” Kouns said about Frederick’s pitcher, junior Payton Torres.
While it was not the ending Kouns had hoped for he was proud of the team and said he did not want any of his players to hang their heads. “You don’t win 22 games by accident. This is a good softball team and we just ended up short today.”
With only two starting seniors, Pickett and Issabelle Guzman, leaving the team Kouns expects next year’s squad to build off this season’s success. “The future is bright,” he said. “The two big players that were going to lose, Cem (Pickett) and Goose (Guzman), they’re kind of the heart of the team. But I have a lot of confidence in the ones coming back. We’re deep, we have a lot of talent.”