Softball: Berthoud wins two of three against the TVC

As they begin the stretch run of the season – five Tri-Valley Conference (TVC) games remain on the schedule – the Berthoud High School (BHS) softball team is well-positioned for another run at the postseason.

Berthoud 12, Roosevelt 2

For the second time this season, the Lady Spartans thoroughly dominated Roosevelt, winning once again by a 12-2 final. Hannah Langer and Delaney Fouts drove in three runs for Berthoud, while Sarah Jorissen and Sedona Cook contributed two RBIs apiece. Jorissen continues to be money for BHS from inside the circle, throwing six innings of three-run ball while striking out six Lady ‘Riders.

Erie 2, Berthoud 0

Playing on the road in a rare Saturday morning game on Sept. 17, Berthoud gave undefeated and No. 1-ranked Erie as tough a test as they have faced all season. The Lady Tigers ultimately won the game, 2-0, but were held scoreless for the first five innings of the contest.

Erie ace pitcher Rio Sanchez allowed Berthoud to scatter only three hits – two from Langer and one from Fouts – and fanned six Lady Spartans in the morning affair. Sanchez and Maddie Foster scored the only two runs Erie needed to get their 13^th win of the season.

Berthoud 6, Mead 5

The sports axiom that it is difficult to beat a team three times in one season was turned on its head on Sept. 15 when Berthoud topped TVC rival Mead by a 6-5 final score at Bein Field. It was a character-building win as the Lady Spartans had to rally from a 5-2 deficit late in the game to notch their third win in as many tries against the Lady Mavericks.

Jorissen surrendered three runs to Mead in the fourth inning and another two in the fifth, but was part of the team’s rally in the sixth. The sophomore finished the night with a pair of hits and two RBI while sophomore leadoff hitter Addie Spears tallied three hits, including a double, and drove in three. Fouts and Tristan Pope also contributed RBIs, and five Lady Spartans – Fouts, Jorissen, Ashlynn Balliet, Sotera Dageenakis and Aurelia Miramontes – stole bases.

Berthoud (9-5, 6-3 conf.) will host Skyline in their next game on Sept. 22.

Golf: Spartan have “rough day,” fail to qualify for state

In what has to be one of the more peculiar decisions the Colorado High School Activities Committee (CHSAA) makes, the entire golf season comes down to a single round. No matter how well a high school golfer – or golf team – has fared throughout the season, his and his team’s inclusion in the state tournament hinges entirely upon their performance in the regional tournament. It’s akin to an 8-1 football team’s postseason chances resting on the result of their final game.

The Berthoud High School boys golf team had what head coach Mike Burkett called, “a very rough day,” at the Region 3 tournament at Boomerang Links in Greeley on Sept. 19. All four Spartans golfers failed to break 80 and, as a team, Berthoud finished in 10^th place out of 16 teams. Berthoud’s team score of 259 was 42 strokes behind regional champion Silver Creek and marked their worst finish of the season.

Berthoud junior Jack Hummel’s 85 paced BHS. Hummel will serve as an alternate for state for the Spartans. Hummel’s score was good enough take 21st place, while 2015 state-qualifier Josh Schumacher’s 86 tied for 22^nd. Sophomore Cameron Poll shot an 88 for 46^th, and Brogan Sontag rounded out Berthoud’s foursome with a 98.

In the six Tri-Valley Conference (TVC) tournaments that preceded regionals, Schumacher broke 80 in five of them, Hummel in four (the junior competed in five of the six TVC meets) and Poll in two. Each golfer’s best round of the season, had it occurred in regionals, would have qualified each for state, as would have Schumacher’s and Hummel’s mean scores.

Burkett said he “felt bad for the boys” who “all battled hard, all year” and are “great kids.” Yet the Spartans will be without a representative in the state tournament for the first time in four years. Even after a solid regular season, Berthoud – whose preseason goal was to send the top four varsity golfers to state as a team – cannot help but feel disappointed with the season’s ultimate outcome.

Hummel and Poll will both get another crack at state next year; but Schumacher and Sontag, both seniors who also play on the BHS baseball team, Monday’s 18 holes at Boomerang represented the final round of competitive golf of their high school careers.