Unbeaten Broomfield making most of shortened softball season
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (BVM) — Each game took on a little more importance when the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) announced in August that its new plan for 2020 fall sports would include a shorter regular season and the elimination of regionals for softball teams.
The Broomfield Eagles have clearly taken every game they’ve played this season seriously. They’ve yet to lose one.
“They knew early on that every game mattered,” Broomfield head coach Kale Gilmore said. “They wanted to come in and just try to win every game. They knew that every game was going to be important in the final standings and impact their ability to reach their goal.”
That goal is a state championship. The unbeaten Eagles (12-0) have never won one, but they’re on the right track with less than two weeks to go before the start of the postseason, which will be a 16-team state tournament this year. In each class, league champions will earn automatic bids and the remaining bids will be earned through the CHSAA seeding index, which takes into account RPI, MaxPreps rankings and the coaches poll.
Broomfield is in good shape however you slice it. The Eagles are ranked No. 2 in the state by MaxPreps and in the CHSAA Class 5A coaches poll. They’re right on the heels of No. 1 Rock Canyon (9-1), a team that’s on a mission this season after entering last year’s state tourney as the No. 1 seed, only to be upset in the first round.
“We’re keeping an eye on them along with several teams in the state,” Gilmore said. “We certainly have a ton of respect for a lot of teams out there at the top of the standings.”
Broomfield has earned the respect not only within its own state, but throughout the country. The Eagles are also ranked No. 7 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s top 25 coaches poll, which takes into account teams from all five of the states — Colorado, Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri — that hold high school softball in the fall.
Broomfield is succeeding thanks in large part to a strong group of veteran players who are leading as seniors now, but have been making a big impact on the program since they were sophomores.
“We had a good feeling coming into the year,” Gilmore said. “With everything going on, they’ve just been really focused on playing ball and we’re obviously super grateful that they’ve gotten to have their season to begin with. Once they got the word that it was going to happen, they’ve shown up every day, worked really hard and have their minds set on having a really great year.”
Shortstop Hadlee Reichert (.476 batting average, team-high 9 extra-base hits), a North Florida commit, and outfielder Bryna Kapelke (.489 average, team-high 10 stolen bases), are the team’s two returning senior all-state players, but another senior has stepped up big for the Eagles this season. Kenzi Garner not only leads the team in batting average (.550) and RBIs (21) and is tied for the team lead in hits (22) with Kapelke, she’s also made the most appearances in the pitcher’s circle for Broomfield, going 8-0 with a 2.23 ERA.
Garner had to take on a larger role in the circle through the first several weeks of the season with sophomore ace Breanna Fiala sidelined with an injury.
“Kenzi really shouldered the load on our team and pitched with confidence and gave us a chance to win every single game she was out there,” Gilmore said. “What we’re excited about now is we have Breanna coming back and she looks really good and you add a third pitcher like (junior) Maycee Bricker into the mix and you really have a pitching staff. … We really have a lot more than one or two options any given day.”
With a strong arsenal of pitchers to go along with a deep, experienced lineup filled with dangerous bats, the Eagles have every reason to believe they can continue to make the most of the shortened season which they hope will end with their first-ever state championship.
“We certainly believe we have the roster to compete at that level and be in that game and win that game,” Gilmore said. “While it’s not state championship or bust by any means, we’re optimistic that we have the roster to be able to do that and I know the girls really believe that they should be in that game and they have a chance to win it.”
