Motivated Rock Canyon softball the team to watch out for in Colorado
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (BVM) — Rock Canyon High School’s 2019 softball season was shaping up to be a historic one, a crescendo of sorts for a program that spent several years building toward its first state championship and finally had all the pieces in place to win it all.
The Jaguars also seemed to be in the best possible position as they entered the Class 5A state tournament with a 24-1 record and the No. 1 seed, but then they were upset by Ralston Valley in the first round and seemingly left with little more than the consolation of what they had achieved up to that point.
What was a heartbreaking loss at the time is now a useful reminder for the players that have returned to make top-ranked Rock Canyon the team to watch out for in Colorado this fall.
“It gave us a lot more motivation,” senior catcher Katie Dack said. “We’re so much more determined. We don’t want that to happen to us again.”
The Jaguars have been on an early-season tear, winning their first six games and beating three teams that were ranked in the top four in the Class 5A preseason coaches poll. Rock Canyon now sits atop those rankings with all the makings of a team that should contend for a state title again this season.
The Jaguars return with loads of talent and experience, including the senior pitching combo of Audrey Burt and Anna Reimers. The dual aces combined for a 20-1 record, five saves and a 1.37 ERA in 30 appearances last season and they provide Rock Canyon with a level of stability in the circle that most teams can only envy.
“They’re both amazing,” Dack said. “They’re just great pitchers who know what to do and they don’t get rattled under pressure. It’s very nice to have them.”
Dack’s teammates have to feel just as fortunate to have her. The Texas A&M commit led the Jaguars in nearly every offensive category last season, batting .575 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs and slugging 1.344, and she’s already hit seven homers through six games this season. But the role Dack plays behind the plate as a trusted leader, defender and pitch-caller for the team’s pair of aces may be just as important.
“She really pulls them together,” Rock Canyon head coach Mike DeSimone said. “I think the best pitchers know that they have good players behind them and they trust that and they trust the coaching staff’s strategy and the catcher’s implementation of that. … They know the game and they know what we’re trying to accomplish and they know they have people that they can rely upon.”
The Jaguars have no shortage of players they can count on in what will be a shorter season than usual. Due to COVID-19, the regular season has been cut down from 23 to 16 games and regionals have been eliminated from the postseason which will now be a 16-team state tournament. Rosters are also now limited to 12 active players, which is one of the bigger challenges DeSimone has had to face with his squad so far this season.
“Culturally, it’s hard when you have more than 12 people on your team who are varsity worthy but only 12 are going to suit up,” DeSimone said. “That’s challenging to keep everybody’s spirits up and keep them engaged. No. 2, a lot of the game circumstances that a lot of players who get experience in, like running and things like that are taken away because you have such a shortened bench. That changes the way you look at things.”
But those challenges aside, Rock Canyon still feels fortunate to have the opportunity to play softball when many fall sports have been postponed in states all around the country, including Colorado.
“It’s a privilege and we need to respect and do whatever we can to follow all the requirements to do it safely,” DeSimone said “I think I’ve seen that with the girls. There’s just an appreciation to be able to be around their friends and play the sport they love. I think there is maybe a higher shine on it because they get to something that a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to do.”
And not a lot of teams have the opportunity that the Jaguars do this fall — another good chance to reach their ultimate goal and make history.
“We want to win state this year,” Dack said. “If we just stay strong and stay together and just be determined, I think we can do it. I really believe we could.”
