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PREP ROUNDUP: Rifle’s Masi Smith wins Rifle Invitational; Roaring Fork baseball tops Coal Ridge

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Teeing it up on her home course Tuesday morning, Rifle’s Masi Smith stood a good chance of winning the 10-team Rifle Bears Invitational.

Smith, one of the top golfers on the Western Slope, came through with the individual win for the Bears, shooting a +10 at Rifle Creek Golf Course, holding off Grand Junction’s Brittlynn O’Dell for the win.

Grand Junction ended up winning the team portion of the tournament with a combined +67, holding off Palisade in second with a team score of +81, Aspen in third (+82), Eagle Valley in fourth (+87), and Glenwood Springs in fifth (+103) on the day.



Smith’s round of +10 helped the Bears finish sixth as a team with a combined scored of +107, while the Coal Ridge Titans finished eighth at +108.

Behind Smith and O’Dell atop the leaderboard, Aspen’s Zoe Guthrie finished tied for third with Glenwood’s Lisa Kelley as the two shot a +18 on the course. Grand Junction’s Jenna Greenlee rounded out the top 5 at the invitational with a round of +25.



Rifle’s Breanna Seay finished tied for 16th with a round of +33, while teammates Caroline Hays (+64), and Ashley Jewell (+68) finished tied for 40th and 48th, respectively.

For Glenwood, Maggie Friemel finished 20th for the Demons with a round of +34, while Emma Price finished 34th with a round of +51. Kaitlyn Brennan finished 45th with a round of +66, while Mabel Ellison shot a +66 to finish 50th.

Coal Ridge’s Jaelyn Price finished tied for 14th with a round of +32, while Grace Gonzalez finished tied for 24th with a round of +39. Sterling Brintnall shot a +43 to finish 28th, while Isabelle Brintnall finished 32nd with a round of +47. Kallie Bumgardner shot a round of +56 to finish 37th.

BASEBALL

Roaring Fork 10, Coal Ridge 4

Hosting the Coal Ridge Titans Tuesday at Ron Patch Memorial Field in Carbondale for a 3A Western Slope League battle, the Roaring Fork Rams baseball team picked up a key 10-4 win, breaking a 3-3 tie in the third inning by scoring one run in the fourth inning and six runs in the fifth inning.

Junior Eli Nickamin started the game quickly for the Rams with a leadoff walk and a stolen base before coming in on an RBI single by senior Layne Crisp, giving the Rams a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Crisp and senior Dawson Kuhl later scored on a two-run single by sophomore Graham Pietsch to give the Rams a 3-0 lead after one inning of play.

The Titans battled back with three runs in the top of the third inning as sophomore Colton Westphal led off with a single, and junior Lane Stecklein walked. Nolan Simpson then singled in a run before Jackson Wade drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2. Sophomore Carson Miller then tied it with an RBI single.

In the fourth, the Rams added a run as Nickamin tripled and then scored on an RBI triple by Crisp. In the fifth, the Rams caught fire, plating six runs as Finn Leahy singled home two runs, freshman David Good doubled home a run, and Nickamin doubled home a run.

The Titans added one more run in the top of the seventh inning as Stecklein scored on a single by Wade, but the late run wasn’t enough in the 10-4 loss.

With the win, Roaring Fork improves to 2-6 (1-1 in 3A WSL) on the season. Coal Ridge falls to 4-7 (0-2 in 3A WSL) on the year. The Rams travel to Moffat County Thursday, while the Titans host Meeker.

Moffat County 5, Grand Valley 4 (8)

Grand Valley 8, Moffat County 2

Battling the Moffat County Bulldogs Tuesday afternoon in a 3A Western Slope League doubleheader, the Grand Valley Cardinals baseball team split with the Bulldogs, dropping the first game 5-4 in eight innings, before bouncing back in the second game for an 8-2 win.

In Game One, the Cardinals had a 3-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning, but the Bulldogs plated four runs to take a 4-3 lead. Grand Valley forced extra innings with a run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Bulldogs scored a run in the eighth and shut down the Cardinals in the bottom of the frame to pick up the win in extras.

As a team, the Cardinals pounded out eight hits in the Game One loss, led by sophomore Luke Smith’s three hits. Junior Garrett Blair added two hits in the loss. Senior Marco Rojas, junior Isaiah Tigert, and junior Austin White recorded RBIs in the loss.

In Game Two, the Cardinals scored six runs in the third inning to take a 6-0 lead, before adding two in the fourth. Moffat scored two in the top of the fifth inning, but that would be all as the Cardinals rolled to the 6-run win.

Rojas led the Cardinals with two hits and three RBIs in the win, while White tripled.

On the mound, Rojas worked five innings, allowing just two earned runs on three hits, striking out five.

Grand Valley (3-6, 1-1 in 3A WSL) travels to Olathe Saturday for a league doubleheader with the Pirates.

Rifle 14, Meeker 1

Taking on the Meeker Cowboys Tuesday, the Rifle Bears baseball team rolled to a 14-1 win.

Senior Eddie Medina worked four innings on the mound, allowing just the one run. Medina also added three hits, a double, two runs batted in, and a run scored.

Senior Randy Starks added two hits and three runs scored, while senior Wyatt Warfel added two hits and three runs scored.

Holden Stutsman added two hits and three RBIs.

Rifle improves to 8-3 on the year.

jcarney@postindependent.com


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