Eagle Valley defeats Battle Mountain in first softball game between schools
In program's first year Huskies fall to Devils

Ryan Sederquist/Courtesy photo
Monday’s softball game between Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain carried a weighty significance.
On paper, it was the inaugural rivalry matchup between the two valley schools — the Huskies fielding their first softball team ever this fall. The real story, however, required just two letters, symbolically patched to the Devils’ sleeves.
The initials of one player’s father, who passed away over the weekend, were worn on Eagle Valley’s jerseys.
“It just showed the support that we wanted to give to the family,” said coach Matt Kreutzer.
“He was a competitor and we wanted to go out with that same spirit.”

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The Devils did just that in taking down the Huskies 23-2 in four innings Monday in Eagle.
“We win as a team, we play as a team and they’re really starting to hit their stride right now,” Kreutzer said of his resilient roster.

Ryan Sederquist/Courtesy photo
Mattie Hobbs struck out five in two innings of work, Anna Baker drove in four runs and Audrey Crowley went 4-for-4 with two steals and four runs scored to propel the Devils. Even though its offense would get rolling, Eagle Valley faced an enthusiastic group in black in the top of the first inning.
“We came out and we played. We did not embarrass ourselves — I’ll take that any day,” said Battle Mountain catcher Holly Knauf, who provided both offensive highlights for the Huskies. She scored the team’s first run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning and stole home on a gutsy move in the third.
“I just saw the opportunity and just kind of went because like, why not?” she said of the latter play. “I knew I could get it.”
Knauf said a pep talk from a certain Eagle County School district employee got the team’s spirits up heading into Monday.
“Mrs. Jarnot gave us a talk,” she said.
“That helped tremendously I think. It kind of brought our energy back; we were feeling kind of down and like we couldn’t do it. With her talk, it just kind of brought our team closer and the energy was there today.”
The senior said the team has been working on increasing the intensity.
“And it’s showing.”

Ryan Sederquist/Courtesy photo
In the first inning, Battle Mountain secured two quick outs with the score 1-0. A deep drive to centerfield by Baylee Castillo landed next to the fence to get the Devils’ scoring started. From there, Hobbs and Phedre Kempton added two two-out doubles before the top half of the inning was over, giving the visitors a 4-0 lead.
For the Huskies, mistakes are part and parcel with growing their knowledge of the sport.
“Learning the game of softball — there are so many rules — is hard. More than just technique — just like the rules themselves,” Knauf said, noting that almost everyone on the roster is brand new to the sport. The team’s workhorse on the mound, however, isn’t.
Lia Nowicki, who pitched the entire game for the Huskies, has played the game since she was nine, and played for the Devils last year.
“I’m super close with the girls, so that just fueled the rivalry even more,” she said with a big smile after the game.
“It made it so much fun because win or loss, everyone’s my family and I’m just here to have fun.”
The team’s goal going into the season was to get a win — they did that against Aspen on Saturday. Now, they’ll look for another one, as well as building a culture.
“Just to blossom the program,” Nowicki said of her vision for the rest of the year.
“I hope this year can inspire more girls to come out and want to play softball, because they’ll see how much fun we’re having and what a family the team really is.”

Ryan Sederquist/Courtesy photo
Family, on this night in particular, felt at the forefront — and in that sense, the game, regardless of the win-loss column, belonged to Eagle Valley. With the win, the Devils moved to 5-5 on the year and are on the cusp of contending with the league’s top two teams, Palisade (8-2) and Rifle (7-1). Kreutzer believes the team’s recent extra-inning, one-run games have the crew battle-tested for the heart of the league-play schedule.
“We’ve got a lot of close-game experience under our belt,” he said.
“We’re ready to take that into league play and try to knock them off.”
Eagle Valley’s next game is at home against Rifle on Sept. 20. Battle Mountain returns to action Friday against Meeker.

Ryan Sederquist/Courtesy photo