The weather was dishing up as much competition as the opposing teams for last week’s Trent Goscha Memorial Baseball Tournament in Carbondale.
In the end, it was the long-awaited matchup of the host Roaring Fork High School Rams versus neighboring Glenwood Springs for the tournament championship late Saturday afternoon.
The Rams prevailed in a hard-fought game, 6-3, for a first-ever home tournament title. Additional wins came Thursday, 14-4 over Grand Junction Central, and on Friday, 14-1 over Strasburg, in the six-team tournament.
Snow postponed Glenwood Springs’s game against Smoky Hill on Friday, which resumed on Saturday morning, but had to be played in Glenwood Springs while crews worked to clear snow from the Patch field in Carbondale.
The marquee matchup pitted the Roaring Fork Valley rivals against each other for the right to hoist the trophy that’s dedicated to the memory of Goscha.
A promising youth baseball player, Goscha died unexpectedly during his eighth grade year at Carbondale Middle School. The tournament was established in his memory a few years later, and money raised through merchandise sales during the tournament went to support the Trent Goscha Memorial Scholarship for a graduating baseball senior.
In Saturday’s championship game, the Rams took an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first, including an RBI double by senior Josiah Wheeless. The Rams added runs in the second and fourth, leaving Glenwood in a hole and unable to catch up.
Rams sophomore Chase Fenton pitched a complete game, giving up just two walks and five hits, with two strikeouts.
“We played really well Thursday and Friday, and kept that common theme into the championship game — put the ball in play, make routine plays, pitch strikes,” Rams head coach Marty Madsen said. “It was just a quality team outing… I was really impressed with the boys’ composure. It definitely had that playoff vibe, so it was a great atmosphere.”
For the three games totaled, Roaring Fork had 21 hits, and only four errors and only 11 strikeouts.
“Our pitching was unbelievable,” Madsen said. “We only used three kids in three games, so that’s big.”
Senior Cole Fenton got the game one win, giving up just three hits and throwing 12 strikeouts.
Junior Kenny Riley pitched the Friday game, recording five strikeouts and no walks on just 59 pitches.
The Rams were on the road Tuesday to play one of the top 5A teams in the state, Castle Ridge. Roaring Fork fell 12-0.
The team now stands at 3-7 overall, while holding at 0-2 in the 3A Western Slope League ahead of the next league game at Delta on Friday, April 11.
In other spring sports action…
Girls soccer
The Roaring Fork girls soccer team defeated Glenwood Springs 8-0 on April 4, and was back on the home field Tuesday night against Basalt — another win, 4-1. Kennedy Arnold scored two goals for the Rams, while Carley Crownhart and Emma Charters had one each.
Against Glenwood, goals were scored by Carley Crownhart (two), with one each for Charters, Arnold, Erica Crownhart, Maddie Anderson, Riley Bevington and Helena McCracken.
Roaring Fork improves 2-1-2 on the season. The first 3A WSL game was scheduled at Steamboat Springs on Wednesday.
Lacrosse
The Roaring Fork girls lacrosse team followed respective 17-4 and 19-12 wins at Summit on April 2, and April 5 at home against Mullen, with a convincing 21-2 win at home against 4A Mountain East League rival Eagle Valley on Tuesday.
Points (combination goals and assists) leaders at Summit were Hailey Wolfe (seven), Josie McKinley (six), Jordyn Miller (three), and Ava Montemayor, Eva Feinsinger, Kayla Steele and Helen Dillard (one each).
Against Mullen, it was McKinley (eight), Wolfe (six), Miller (five), Aurora Cheney (four), Myla Noonan (two), and Steele and Feinsinger (one each).
Against Eagle Valley, it was McKinley (10, all goals), Wolfe (four), Feinsinger and Lilu Illouz (three each), Miller, Lexi Moebius, Marin Weaver, Aurora Cherney, Ana Aguilar and April Thomas (two each).
Meanwhile, the boys co-op lacrosse team, which plays under the Glenwood Springs High School banner but includes players from Roaring Fork and Basalt, fell to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the 4A Western league with a 14-1 loss to Aspen on Tuesday, April 8.
In other recent action, the Demons lost 9-6 at Telluride on April 3. Points came from Sawyer Harrington (five), James Genung (three), Canyon Cherney and Jonny Vrabel (two each), Samuel Volf and Wade Lehrman (one each).
The Demons won 18-6 at Montrose on Monday, April 7. Points came from Kiko Pena (seven), Genung and Cherney (four each), Vrabel and Alex Mauer (three each), Harrington (two), and Volf, Nico Savi, Brackett Enewold, Ossie Hilgeford and Sam Theron (one each).
Track & Field
The Roaring Fork boys and girls track team competed at the Eagle Valley Invitational on Saturday, April 5.
Top eight finishers collecting team points, by event, were:
Girls 4×800 relay team of Izzy Moon, Caroline Cole, Sadie Silcox and Miley Stuart, third place (11 minutes, 21.6 seconds).
3200 meters — Stuart, third (15:39.9)
1600 meters — Moon, sixth (5:54.61); Cole, seventh (5:59.92)
400 meters — Junior Nikki Tardif, sixth (1:04.29)
200 meters — Tardif, eighth (29.04).
The team is at the Glenwood Springs Demon Invitational this Saturday, April 12.