Softball: Matthews sees improvement as Cougars pick up third win

The Niwot Cougars snapped a nine-game losing streak last Friday with a 22-5 win over the Greeley Central Wildcats. Junior Savannah Rafkin went 4-for-4 with four RBI in the winning effort, and also had a stolen base. Senior Jaila Johnson also had four RBI on the day, while sophomore Nikki Sims had four hits and a stolen base.

The win capped off a better week for the Cougars, who seem to have found their groove on offense. On Monday, Niwot exploded for 23 hits against Northridge, but committed 13 errors on the day, dooming themselves to a 15-13 loss. Sophomore Esme O’Rourke had a season-best five hits in the contest, including her first double. Reagan Wills had four hits and scored four runs, while Rafkin and Johnson also came up big, combining for seven hits and six runs.

“Offensively, we’re fine,” said Niwot head coach Bobby Matthews, who was tossed from the game against the Grizzlies. “We’re just trying to play better defense. The game on Monday was rough.”

Matthews had to sit out the next game at Thompson Valley, which seemed to briefly extinguish Niwot’s offensive spark. Sims batted in sophomore Calista Law in the sixth inning for the Cougars’ only run in the 8-1 loss to the Eagles. However, they committed just two errors, their fewest since Aug. 24.

“We’re still a work in progress,” Matthews said. “I hope we’re turning a corner, and maybe we’ll be able to finish it off and get into the postseason.”

The Cougars are home against Centaurus on Sept. 19, the head back out on the road to Mountain View on Sep. 21.

9/11 — Northridge 15, Niwot 13

Grizzlies (7-3, 5-1) 402 142 2 — 17 14 5

Cougars (2-8, 2-4) 424 003 0 — 13 23 13

Hitting (ab-r-h-rbi) — Jaila Johnson 6-4-4-0, Savannah Rafkin 6-2-3-3, Nikki Sims 6-2-2-0, Aleris Law 3-0-2-1, Reagan Wills 5-4-4-2, Esme O'Rourke 5-0-5-3, Caitlyn Schreiner 5-0-2-1, Calista Law 5-0-1-3, Kalya Ibarra 0-1-0-0, Ashton Jones 3-0-0-0, Kaya Shell 1-0-0-0

2B — E. O’Rourke 3B — R. Wills SB — S. Rafkin

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Johnson 7-14-15-4-4-1

9/13 — Thompson Valley 8, Niwot 1

Cougars (2-9, 2-5) 000.001 0 — 1 7 2

Eagles (4-7, 4-3) 411 101 1 — 8 11 3

Hitting (ab-r-h-rbi) — Jaila Johnson 4-0-2-0, Savannah Rafkin 4-0-2-0, Nikki Sims 4-0-2-1, Aleris Law 4-0-1-0, Reagan Wills 4-0-0-0, Esme O'Rourke 2-0-1-0, Caitlyn Schreiner 2-0-1-0, Calista Law 4-1-0-0, Kalya Ibarra 2-0-0-0

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Johnson 6-10-8-4-3-3

9/15 — Niwot 22, Greeley Central 5

Cougars (3-9, 3-5) 3131 05- - - — 22 17 3

Wildcats (1-10, 0-8) 4 00 10- - - — 5 8 3

Hitting (ab-r-h-rbi) — Jaila Johnson 3-3-2-4, Savannah Rafkin 4-4-4-4, Nikki Sims 4-4-3-1, Aleris Law 2-3-2-1, Reagan Wills 3-2-1-3, Esme O'Rourke 4-1-2-1, Caitlyn Schreiner 1-1-1-2, Calista Law 4-1-1-3, Kalya Ibarra 1-1-1-1, Kaya Shell 1-0-0-0, Mary Yao 2-0-0-0

2B — J. Johnson, C. Law, S. Rafkin SB — S. Rafkin, N. Sims

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — Johnson 5-8-5-3-2-2