Fossil Ridge finally claims elusive softball state title
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (BVM) — The Fossil Ridge Sabercats found themselves in a very familiar situation even in a year unlike any they’ve ever experienced before.
Several times over the past eight softball seasons, they’ve had a team with enough talent to win it all and were so close to a state championship that they could almost taste it.
“You had that feeling maybe it was going to happen,” Fossil Ridge head coach David Philop said. “But until the last pitch of the game, you just don’t know.”
A year ago, the Sabercats fell just one win short of the title — for the third time in six years. They’ve also lost in the state semifinals three times since 2013. But on Oct. 10, Fossil Ridge finally finished the job and claimed an elusive first state title by beating Cherokee Trail 5-1 in the CHSAA Class 5A championship game.
“It was just unbelievable,” Philop said. “We had years we thought we could do it. You’re right there. You can’t quite do it. … It was just great for our program, great for our kids that are there, great for our school and the community. It’s for everybody that’s ever played at our program at Fossil Ridge or been involved with the program. … It’s just really, really special.”
Even for programs that have claimed numerous state titles, it’s hard to compare any of them to the first one. And for the Sabercats (17-3), their first run to a state title will certainly be hard to forget, especially given the circumstances.
The CHSAA trimmed softball’s regular season down from 23 to 16 games back in August as part of a revised sports schedule that was split into four separate seasons in response to COVID-19. Regionals were also eliminated from the postseason which became a 16-team state tournament.
“We really took it more like this going to be a sprint, we’ve got to really enjoy it and be grateful for it and appreciate what we’re having the opportunity to do and fortunately it played out for us,” Philop said. “You just kind of felt like everybody had a shot if you got on a roll and played well. … You also were in a position where if you lost a few games in a row, you might’ve been in trouble. The margin for error was a lot less this year.”
A little luck also came into play as it often does for a team that makes a state title run. No. 1-seeded Rock Canyon and No. 2 Broomfield, who accounted for two of Fossil Ridge’s three losses and appeared to be on a collision course for the state final, were both knocked off in the second round of the state tourney.
“When Broomfield and Rock Canyon got upset, it didn’t mean that we were going to win it by any stretch,” Philop said, “but it did open things up.”Even if the No. 4-seeded Sabercats would’ve had to face one of those two teams, Philop felt good about his squad’s chances of exacting revenge for either of the close losses (2-0 to Rock Canyon and 2-1 to Broomfield), especially considering how well it was playing at the time. Fossil Ridge ended its season with seven straight victories after suffering its third loss against Horizon on Sept. 22.
“We really kind of tried to take the attitude that with COVID going on we’re just lucky to be out here playing,” Philop said. “Let’s have fun with this, we know we can play with anybody in the state. Let’s just go for it and really see what we can do and we were fortunate to bounce back right after that Horizon game.”
The Sabercats were fortunate to be led by several players who had been there before, including 5A player of the year Nikki McGaffin. The junior ace had back surgery not long after last year’s championship loss, but she not only came back, she came up big for Fossil Ridge and became arguably the top pitcher in the state, finishing 16-3 with a 1.89 ERA and leading Class 5A in strikeouts (171).
“She really started to get better as the season went on and threw a bit more down the stretch,” Philop said. “The more she pitched, I felt like the more she started to feel comfortable … This year we thought we had a really good chance with her if she was healthy, which she was.”
With McGaffin and most of the team’s top hitters returning, like sophomore Kodi Alvord (team-best .423 average and 27 RBIs) and junior Elizabeth Browning (.412 average, second on the team), the Sabercats should have a good shot at making a run at back-to-back state titles next season. It won’t be an easy feat, but Fossil Ridge knows as well as anyone that the first state title can oftentimes be the hardest one to win.
