By Dan Karpiel

The Surveyor

Baseball: Spartans split conference series with Erie

If there is one thing that has become clear about the baseball teams in the Tri-Valley Conference (TVC), it is most of them are very evenly matched. For the fourth time in five series the Berthoud High School (BHS) baseball team split a TVC series, the latest coming with the Erie Tigers. In a two-game set played as a double-header last Thursday at Jack Sommers Field at BHS, the Spartans lost the first game by a 6-2 final before an offensive explosion in the second saw Berthoud win 20-5 in a five-inning, mercy-rule-shortened contest.

In the opening game with Erie, the visiting Tigers hung four runs on the board in the third inning, as the Spartans could not get anything going offensively. Erie scored one more run in the fourth frame and another in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead going into the last two innings of game one. Seniors Wyatt Stratmeyer and Quinn Oliver drove in runs for the Spartans in the fifth and sixth innings but it was too little, too late, as Berthoud dropped game one. The two late runs, however, were a harbinger of things to come in game two. C.J. Balliet, Chris DeSousa, Colin DeVore and Stratmeyer all logged two hits in the game, and DeSousa was charged with the loss despite allowing only two earned runs and compiling 11 strikeouts in his five innings of work.

The second game saw Berthoud’s bats come to life in a big way. After each team scratched out a pair of runs in the first inning and then both blanked in the second, Berthoud pushed a whopping eight runs across the plate to give the home team a commanding 9-1 lead. The Spartans offense blew up again in the fifth frame, scoring 11 runs to put the game well out of reach for Erie and instituting the mercy rule. Balliet and Tristen Workman each had four RBIs in the second game, DeSousa drove in another three, and Stratmeyer and Hunter Pearce added two more apiece. Oliver threw a complete game for the Spartans, fanning 10 Tigers while only allowing a pair of earned runs in five innings on the mound.

Berthoud (9-6, 4-6 TVC) is currently sitting at No. 16 in 4A RPI, well within reach of their first postseason berth in Kouns’ tenue as manager. In their last two series of the regular season, the Spartans will face off with conference cellar-dweller Frederick (3-12, 0-10 TVC) on April 26 and 28 before closing out the season with 4A No. 1 Windsor (14-0, 10-0) the first week of May.

Girls soccer: Lady Spartans drop three-straight to stiff competition

Ravaged by injuries and playing a killer conference schedule, the BHS girls soccer team has had a rough few weeks. The Lady Spartans have lost five-straight matches, four of which came against TVC opponents. Berthoud lost by a 6-0 final on the road against Mead last Wednesday in their most recent contest.

Earlier in the season Berthoud’s offense appeared unstoppable. The Lady Spartans scored 33 goals in their first seven games, five of which they won. Maddie Barcewski, Hailey Pepper and Liz Bosnich proved almost impossible for other teams to stop; the three combined for 25 goals and 10 assists. Senior goalkeeper Morgan Hughes was equally impressive, allowing only eight goals in six games, five of which came against 5A Loveland. Unfortunately for Berthoud, the injury bug hit just at the time the schedule got much tougher. Berthoud has scored only two goals in the first four conference games, while allowing their opponents shots to find the back of the net a whopping 30 times.

Despite the rough last month, Berthoud still has four games left, however, and their hopes for reaching the postseason are not dead yet. Berthoud (5-6, 0-4 TVC) will travel to Frederick and Erie for their last two TVC matches of the season and will host Elizabeth on May 4 for senior night to close out the regular season.

Girls tennis: Berthoud finishes 2018 with three wins

The BHS tennis team concluded their 2018 season last week with a home match against Frederick. The Lady Spartans lost the match by a 5-2 final but, as throughout the season, a lot of positives could be found.

Playing at the top of the heap in one singles, senior Leah Marty won a pair of matches on the season while facing the toughest opponents the other teams had to offer. In the final match on the BHS courts, Marty pushed Frederick’s Chasen Marinoff to three sets, winning the second by a 6-3 score, but that was sandwiched between a pair of wins for Marinoff, 6-2 and 6-3. Marty said she was pleased with her senior season, saying even when things weren’t going in her favor she enjoyed herself and the camaraderie of her teammates. “Even when we were losing, we were always having fun … every match was a good time.”

Skye Kearney won three matches in singles competition and Riley Lundgreen won another two. Like Marty, Kearney pushed her Frederick opponent to three sets in what was also the final match of her high-school career, ultimately coming up just short. 2-6, 6-0, 6-4.

It was in doubles play, however, where the Lady Spartans enjoyed their most success from a win-loss perspective. Berthoud’s one doubles team of Gretchen Marty and Eriana Rennaker finished the year with a winning record, going 6-4 overall. The pair defeated the Frederick one doubles team in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4 to finish the season on a high note. The Lady Spartans three doubles team of Delaney Fouts and Meghan Lucero, both seniors, posted the best win-loss record for Berthoud on the season, finishing the season a stellar 7-1 overall that included a 7-5, 6-2 win in their final match of the year.