Softball team surging

The Cougars opened the Jefferson County League portion of their softball schedule with a bang, sweeping three games last week.

Evergreen edged Golden 8-6 on Sept. 9, and followed up by trouncing Alameda 12-2 Sept. 11 and Jefferson 19-1 two days later. The Cougars are now at 6-5 overall and tied with Wheat Ridge for the league lead at 3-0.

“I was really glad to see us hit the ball so well,” said Evergreen coach Scott Haebe following the Sept. 11 home field victory. “We’d been struggling offensively in the early games. We had our problems in the first couple of weeks but are improving game by game.”

The Cougars set the tone early, jumping out to a 5-0 first inning lead against the Pirates. Emmy Quinn escaped a bases loaded jam in the top half of the first, and Evergreen carried the momentum to the plate.

Shaky Alameda infield play put two runners on base before Liz Stratton plated the game’s first run with a single. Quinn drove in another run with a hard single to right and Paige Remington knocked in a pair with a one-hop double just inside the foul line in left. Cavanaugh scored Remington with an infield single.

Evergreen loaded the bases with no outs in the second, and Bailey Doctor scored on a wild pitch. Remington again provided the big blow, belting a long double that one-hopped the center field fence and scored Stratton and Quinn. Remington later scored on a wild pitch and the home team had a comfortable 9-0 lead after two innings.

“I’d been in a bit of a slump the past few days but felt very confident at the plate today,” Remington said. “That first inning really helped us. Emmy got out of a tough situation and that got us going. It was very exciting to come through with some big hits.”

The Cougars extended the lead to 12-0 in the third. Becca Motte doubled in Sarah Lafrinere from second, Liz Stratton hit a deep sacrifice fly and Remington knocked in her fifth run of the game with a single. Katie Cavanaugh relieved Quinn to start the fourth and Alameda scratched out a pair of runs after the Cougars’ hurler took a hard liner off her left pinkie. Neither team scored in their final at-bat and the game was stopped due to the 10-run mercy rule with Evergreen ahead 12-2 after the top of the fifth was completed.

“We are really coming together as a team,” said a beaming Remington. “I feel like we’ve hit a good stretch and that we can keep it going.”

The Cougars certainly did on Sept. 13, taking to the road and trouncing Jefferson 19-1. Motte and Amanda Lanning each had four hits, Martin and Remington had three apiece and Stratton added a pair during the rout. Quinn allowed a run on just one hit and struck out nine in her three innings on the mound.

Evergreen has another busy week, having faced Centaurus on Sept. 16 before hosting Elizabeth on Sept. 18 at 4:30 p.m. and Englewood Sept. 20 at 10 a.m.

“The schedule is favorable right now and hopefully we’ll continue to take advantage of it,” Haebe said. “It is very important that we keep winning before we hit the tough stretch late with games against Wheat Ridge, D’Evelyn and Conifer.”