Prep notebook: Devils defeat Huskies in softball; harriers compete at Liberty Bell Invite

Eagle Valley only needed three innings to put away Battle Mountain in girls softball action on Monday in Gypsum. The Devils defeated the Huskies 15-0 to improve to 7-3 on the season and put an end to a two-game skid. Battle Mountain dropped to 0-3.

Eagle Valley will face Northridge on Friday, the first of a three-game weekend tournament, while Battle Mountain hosts Meeker at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Cross-country notes: Eagle Valley competes at Liberty Bell Invitational; Battle Mountain goes to Coal Ridge

Eagle Valley had two runners dip under 16 minutes and put its top-five within 67-seconds of each other at the Liberty Bell Invitational, one of the most competitive prep events in the state, last Saturday in Littleton. The Devils placed 14th out of 24 teams in the meet’s top division, the ‘Sweepstakes’ class.

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“The boys had big goals in their heads as the opportunity to race at Liberty Bell approached. They embraced the pain cave hard and attacked the course the whole way through,” head coach Melinda Brandt stated.

Cooper Filmore completed the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 40 seconds to lead the Devils in 33rd place, followed closely by Dylan (15:54) and Tyler (16:15) Blair. Armando Fuentes and Jackson Filmore rounded out the top-5. Before Saturday, the only runner to break the 16-minute mark was multi-school record holder and current NCAA DI runner Jake Drever.

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Mountain Vista’s Benjamin Anderson (14:48) won the boys race. Summit’s Joshua Shriver (15:19) placed 12th as the top local finisher and Ella Hagen (16:55.1) was second overall to Isabel Allori (16:51.7) in the girls race.

The Eagle Valley girls placed ninth out of 17 teams in the D2 Varsity class, led by Ellie Shroll’s 10th-place finish. Ginger Reilly, Olivia Ingoldsby, Lucita Stowell and Jada Cobb rounded out the Devils’ scoring.

Battle Mountain traveled west and claimed both boys and girls team titles at the Coal Ridge Invitational in New Castle on Friday. Last year’s 4A state third-place finisher Will Brunner opened up his season by setting the course record at the meet with a time of 15:36.9. His teammate, Jorge Sinaloa (18:09.7) came in second as the Huskies put four in the top five. John McAbee (18:17.0), freshman Nate Beuche (18:24.8) and junior Adam Labenski (19:01) guided the Huskies to a 19-point team score.

The Lady Huskies were led by Presley Smith (21:19.6), Kira Hower (21:44.2) and Snow Swihart (22:09) in second, third and fourth, respectively. Battle Mountain had all five runners in the top seven as Rifle’s Ana Robinson (20:56.8) won the individual title.

Alumni in Action: Liv Moritz receives honor after guiding DU past Colgate and Oregon

Liv Moritz earned the Summit League offensive player of the week award after helping DU improve to 4-0-4 with wins over Colgate and the University of Oregon last week. The former Vail Mountain School star currently leads her team with five goals and 14 points on the season.

Moritz scored her third goal of the year in the Pioneers’ dominant 6-0 win over Colgate last Thursday, then recorded her first-career brace — two goals in one game — against the Ducks on Sunday.

“She definitely gets herself in great positions, to give herself chances; but the balls and the services that (her teammates) are putting in around her are quality,” head coach Julianne Sitch stated to the DU sports information director after the Pioneers’ second straight win over a Power-5 opponent.

“It’s great from Liv to keep her composure inside the box, but (it’s also great) from the rest of the team to be able to find those passes for us to get on the other end of the ball.”