AURORA — When everything was said and done on a chilly Saturday afternoon, and No. 3 Lyons softball had completed its 10-3 masterpiece to win the Class 3A state championship over top-seeded D’Evelyn, head coach Julie Vasquez shared a tender hug with her daughter, Ava, Gretta Wynja, Autumn Johnsey and Leora Hagan.
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She had coached the senior quartet since they were just 6 years old, and they had just ended their high school careers on the highest note possible. The past 12 years had been building toward this moment.
“I taught them how to throw a ball, taught them how to hit a ball,” Julie Vasquez said. “I’ve coached them since they started softball, and then all the way through. We knew these four years were going to be special years, and we knew this season in particular was going to be a special one. They’re hot. They came out hungry. We had our hearts in it for this game. We were coming all season for this championship game.”
The overcast day at Aurora Sports Park may not have brought any precipitation, but the Lions offense rained runs. They defeated No. 2 Brush 14-2 in their earlier semifinal game and didn’t lose any steam.
They spent countless hours in the batting cages this season to make that possible.
“We could hit the freaking ball,” coach Vasquez said. “We had one goal this whole season. It was to score more runs than our opponent. That’s it. That’s really how easy it is.”
Their ace, Wynja, was a menace in the circle, striking out 10. Dahlia Oviatt put on a show in the first contest with five RBIs, a home run and triple, then sophomore Greta Hildebrand took over in the championship. She picked up two hits and four RBIs in the effort.
Things escalated quickly in the final three frames. Lyons (22-6) found myriad ways to score in the fifth inning, and D’Evelyn (25-4) grasped at anything to stanch the bleeding its defense was allowing.
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Taylor Dickes set the tone early for Lyons. She beat out a throw to home from the outfield by mere inches, scoring the second run of the afternoon. Two at-bats later, Emmerson Riley brought Ella White home on an RBI single.
By then, the D’Evelyn defense had only one out, so the Jaguars intentionally walked Ava Vasquez and loaded the bases.
That backfired spectacularly. The next pitch hit Oviatt on the calf, handing the Lions a free run and, not long after, Riley scored on a wild pitch. Later, a D’Evelyn error brought Vasquez and Oviatt home.
“They put me on, but Dahlia’s up and Dahlia’s still a great power hitter,” said Ava Vasquez, a Western Nebraska commit. “(I thought), ‘They’re going to regret it.’”
By the end of the fifth inning, the Lions had a 7-0 stranglehold on the Jaguars, and they scored one more in the top of the sixth for good measure. The Jaguars, however, still had juice left. They put down three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The Lions wouldn’t let that stand, and they did everything they could to bring home their first title in program history.
“It feels incredible,” Wynja said. “It’s the best feeling ever. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been working for this for as long as I can remember.”
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