Mardi Gras

View Original Photo


Weighted down by Mardi Gras beads, Andrew Gordon (right) and his friend explore the Boulder bar scene Tuesday. (CU Independent/Tom Dixon)

View Original Photo


Senior engineering physics major Scott Hoch flaunts his Mardi Gras attire on the way to Juanita's to continue the celebration on Tuesday. (CU Independent/Tom Dixon)

Christopher fitting in with her new Family; In only season with No. 1 Tigers, senior more than just an ace

View Original Article

By Tom Dixon For the Camera
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

BROOMFIELD -- Nothing seems to faze Holy Family's pitcher, not a rough inning when her pitches aren't working, not transferring to a new school her senior year and, apparently, not even a line drive to the head.

"There were only two outs left and then I got hit on the top of the head," Holy Family ace Amy Christopher said. "I went to the hospital, but they said I didn't have a concussion, so that's good."

Christopher is a large part of what's good for Holy Family this season. The 16-1 Tigers head into this week's Class 3A state softball tournament favored to win it all. Holy Family opens state against the winner of a first-round game between Florence and Platte Valley at 10 a.m. Friday at the Aurora Sports Complex.

Christopher still felt dizzy the day after her concussion and had to watch her Tigers suffer their first loss of the season from the sidelines when Holy Family fell to D'Evelyn 3-2 on Oct. 3.

Christopher said it was a tough game to sit out, but she made up for it the next day, slinging nine strikeouts and allowing only two hits in a dominant 10-1 win over Lutheran.

She said she felt good, but wasn't able to completely forget the scare from just two days before.

"I was a little bit scared and I flinched a couple times," Christopher said. "I didn't want to get hit again."

In her game against Eaton on Wednesday she wore a face mask for protection, which she said made her feel a little better.

It looked like she was still getting used to the mask early on, walking three and, in the third inning, throwing three wild pitches that led to Eaton's only run. She recovered well and got a strikeout, one of 10, to get out of the inning without further damage.

She allowed just one hit the rest of the game.

"I just try not to think about it," Christopher said of those tough situations. "I take a breath and think about the next inning and getting outs."

Keeping a cool head under pressure is just one of the things her teammates like about her.

"She's definitely got a very positive attitude," senior outfielder Ciara Clyncke said. "She always pitches great but if she hits a little slump in the game she's always very positive and just really makes sure the team stays up."

Christopher seems as if she's been friends with her teammates for years, even though she's only attended Holy Family since last semester.

"She came second semester last year and all the seniors started hanging out with her. She came and started pitching and there was just no doubt in any of our minds," third baseman Mary Peterson said. "We all trusted her ability."

Christopher played for Monarch last year, where she was 2-2 with a 5.38 ERA. She said she left because she wasn't happy and was having problems with some of the girls on the team.

When asked about what happened she shrugged it off, "I don't have grudges."

She said she is happy she came to Holy Family.

It shows. Christopher has exploded, going 16-0 with a 0.72 ERA this season.

"Actually, I was going to come here when I was a freshman but all my friends went to Monarch, so I just went to Monarch," Christopher said.

She wanted to come to Holy Family because it was a familiar setting.

"I went to a Catholic middle school in California," Christopher said, "so I was used to that Catholic school thing."

Coach Glen Ramos first met his future ace during tryouts this summer.

"What impressed me is that she's a competitor. Whatever we asked her to do she'd step up and do it no questions asked," Ramos said. "It's the old cliché, a total team player."

Team play is a pervasive theme in the Tiger dugout and their chemistry shows in how much fun the girls have outside of softball.

"We have team sleepovers almost every weekend. We're definitely friends outside of softball," senior catcher Caitlin Connelly said. "I think it helps when you have a team with such continuity as our team has. You just know what everyone is going to do and when, and that helps keep everyone relaxed on the field.

"Amy is my best friend and I think that helps with the pitcher-catcher relationship."

Christopher is the third pitcher Connelly has had to develop a relationship with in three years. Their ace Megan McGinnis graduated last year and Sara Baumberger came before McGinnis.

Despite have a different ace the past three years, Holy Family has made a habit out of competing for a state title. Holy Family beat Erie for the first-place trophy in 2006.

Repeating the 2006 success is on everybody's mind at Holy Family, especially after losing to Erie in the title game last year.

Holy Family might have the edge on Erie at state this year. Holy Family beat Erie 8-1 on Sept. 16.

Christopher, just introduced to the rivalry, said that beating Erie was her favorite memory of the season but winning state would be "awesome."

Christopher won't have to do it alone. Holy Family bats have been lighting up the scoreboard all season, led by senior second baseman Lara Mathewson.

Mathewson, an all-stater since her freshman year, batted .672 and drove in 37 runs during the season.

As great as Holy Family's hitting has been, Mathewson acknowledged how important Christopher's role is in winning it all.

"Amy has done a great job," Mathewson said. "She just came in here and she's done what she needed to do for us this year. I'm just glad she came because we need to win state this year."

Erie repeats as 3A softball champs; Bledsoe's Tigers knock off rival Holy Family for title

View Original Article

By Tom Dixon For the Camera
Sunday, October 19, 2008

AURORA -- Erie roared to another state title Saturday, shutting out rival Holy Family 6-0 in the Class 3A state softball championship.

Every Erie player explained the feeling differently.

To an emotional senior, designated player Jessica Glick, the win felt "more amazing than I could ever put into words," she said. "It's a relief to know that we are the team that we knew we were."

Pitcher Mariah Bledsoe, who notched five strikeouts, saw it as vindication.

"Nobody thought we could do it," Bledsoe said, "and we just came out and showed everybody what we could do."

For Sasha Fong, whose third inning three-run homer proved to be the dagger in the win, it was simply, "really great for all the girls."

No matter how they put it, defending champion Erie's eighth title win in nine years was exciting.

"It's not an easy thing to come by," Erie coach Bob Bledsoe said. "We seem to be defying that law."

This year, the second-seeded Tigers (21-2) got it done at the plate and the team got its offensive momentum rolling in the semifinal game, defeating Platte Canyon 13-3.

The semifinal game was tied going into the bottom of the fifth inning when shortstop Ashley Ortega hit a leadoff single. What followed was a flurry of base hits including RBI doubles by outfielder Alexis Gartrell and Fong, a RBI- triple by Ortega and a home run by Brittany Maul.

"I have a goal, and it's not to get out," Ortega said of her tournament success. "I'm on my way there. I don't know, I just came into it focused and confident."

Nine of 12 batters in the inningscored.

No. 1 Holy Family (19-2), meanwhile, also got its bats cracking with a fast start and strong finish to an 8-3 semifinal win over Valley.

In the first inning, designated player Daiva Jarasius cleaned up with authority, blasting a three-run homer.

"I didn't know it was gone until I got to second base and I didn't see the coach on third anymore," Jarasius said.

Holy Family didn't score again until first baseman Amy Baumberger ended the drought with a bases-clearing double.

"I was just wishing it would drop and then it did and I was really happy," Baumberger said. "I was just waiting to get that pitch and then it was right there."

But Holy Family's unstoppable offense ran into Erie's immovable defense in the championship game.

"I have full confidence in my team and I know that whenever the bat hits the ball it's either going to be caught or fielded," Mariah Bledsoe said.

Bledsoe has pitched the Erie Tigers to two championships against Holy Family in her first two years.

Coach Bledsoe praised his daughter's effort.

"Mariah just did a great job of keeping their hitters, great hitters, off-balance for seven innings," he said. "They're just so good. To shut them out for seven innings is a major accomplishment."

It helped Erie to have plenty of run support in this tournament, including Fong's two home runs in the last two games.

"We were hitting really well last game and we managed to keep it going from that game to this game," Fong said. "Yesterday was kind of intense and crazy and a you-don't-even-know day. Today was a lot more relaxed, like you could do everything."

Holy Family coach Glen Ramos said he was still very proud of his team and its effort this season.

"I believe our team left it on the field," he said. "I mean, you can take a look at their faces right now and see how emotional they are and that tells you they did everything they could possibly do. It just wasn't their day."

Coach Bledsoe empathized and talked about the work it takes just to make it to championship Saturday.

"We knew we had talent but to take them and build them into a team -- because teams win, not individuals -- to put all the pieces together and make it fit and accomplish something that's really difficult to do," he said. "It's gratifying."

Erie has defeated Holy Family three of the last four years at state.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Holy Family's seniors, but Ramos said his team will bounce back. To prove his point, he flagged down junior center fielder Rachel Boothe.

"Hey Rachel, do we expect to be back here next year?" he asked.

Boothe fought back tears and smiled.

"Of course," Boothe replied.

Erie 6, Holy Family 0

Score by innings:

Holy Family 000 000 0 -- 0 3 1

Erie 103 002 X -- 6 9 0

Christopher and Connelly; Bledsoe and Kovac. W --Bledsoe. L -- Christopher.

Holy Family hitting -- Mathewson 0-2, M. Petersen 0-1, Connelly 0-3, Jarasius 0-3, Baumberger 0-2, Christopher 0-2, Wild 2-3, B. Petersen 0-2, Boothe 0-2, Gonzalez 1-1. 3B -- Wild.

Erie hitting -- Ruiz 3-3, David 2-3, Fong 1-3, Ortega 1-3, Maul 1-3, Harmon 0-3, Glick 0-2, Gartrell 1-3, Kovac 0-3. HR -- Fong.

HOLY FAMILY 8, VALLEY 3

Score by innings:

Holy Family 400 000 4 -- 8 9 1

Valley 001 000 2 -- 3 6 1

Christopher and Connelly, Taylor and C. Odenbaugh. W -- Christopher. L -- Taylor.

Holy Family hitting -- Mathewson 3-4, M. Petersen 1-2, Connelly 1-2, Jarasius 1-3, Baumberger 1-3, Christopher 1-4, Wild 0-4, B. Petersen 0-3, Boothe 0-3, Medrano 1-1. 2B -- Baumberger. HR -- Jarasius.

Valley hitting -- Hubbard 2-3, Michaels 0-4, Asbury 1-3, Hutton 0-3, Meining 0-2, M. Odenbaugh 0-3, Ray 1-2, Hanlon 0-1, C. Odenbaugh 1-2, M. Odenbaugh 1-1, Reynolds 0-2, Benzor 0-1. 2B -- C. Odenbaugh. HR --Hubbard.

ERIE 13, PLATTE CANYON 3

Score by innings:

Platte Canyon 100 110 -- 3 7 2

Erie 210 091 -- 13 16 1

Marshall and Kinnett, Bledsoe and Kovac. W -- Bledsoe. L -- Kovac.

Platte Canyon hitting -- Chelsea Kinnett 1-3, Jenny Marshall 1-3, Jessie Marshall 2-3, Courtney Kinnett 2-3, Johnson 0-2, Kyndall Voskamp 0-2, Kelsey Voskamp 1-3, Owens 0-3, East 0-3. 2B -- Courtney Kinnett. 3B -- Chelsea Kinnett.

Erie hitting -- Ruiz 1-4, David 0-3, Fong 3-4, Ortega 3-3, Maul 2-3, Welch 1-1, Harmon 1-2, Calloway 0-0, Glick 1-2, Gartrell 1-3, Wetsch 1-1, Kovac 1-3, Spendlow 1-1. 2B -- Fong, Gartrell. 3B -- Ortega. HR -- Fong, Ortega, Maul.