University walks-off Eaton for Class 3A softball title in another epic showdown between Patriot League rivals

AURORA — With the state championship up for grabs, Emma Zacheis made the grab of her life. Then the University junior outfielder scored the winning run. Zacheis’ sprawling catch in foul territory in the seventh inning of a 4-4 game ended the top half of the frame at Aurora Sports Park in the Class 3A title game on Saturday, stranding two Eaton runners in the process. Then Zacheis led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single, and, two batters later, scored on Jasi Cole’s walk-off single. The sequence gave University a 5-4 victory over rival Eaton, avenging the Bulldogs’ championship losses to the Reds two of the last three seasons for their second title and first since 2019. “I knew that if I didn’t catch that one, (Eaton slugger Johanna Galvan) was going to get another opportunity to get some runs in,” Zacheis said. “(My whole career) led up to that catch. Everything I’ve worked towards for years, everything this whole team has worked for, it paid off with that catch.” It was Galvan, the junior first baseman, who initially gave Eaton the lead in the first inning with her towering two-run homer down the left field line. So to not give Galvan any more chances to mash — and potentially push the Reds back into the lead in a see-saw game — proved critical. Eaton beat University 8-6 in last year’s title game, and 9-1 for the crown in ’22. But the Reds were denied a four-peat on Saturday by the Bulldogs, who beat Eaton for a second time this season following an 8-7, extra-inning victory on Oct. 2 that decided the Patriot League crown. “We knew it was going to take everything it took to beat them again,” Zacheis said. “There was a lot of talk (externally) that we couldn’t beat them twice, but we all believed 100% that we had what it takes to win this title.” Both teams switched back and forth between pitchers, with the Reds using Galvan and fellow junior Bria Foster, and the Bulldogs alternating Cole and fellow senior Sydney Goetzel. University head coach Chris Hutton said it was a strategy she used in the tournament when coaching at Valley 15 years ago, and it produced a similar result as Valley won back-to-back Class 3A titles in 2010 and ’11. “It’s unconventional, but I thought it would work today against Eaton’s lineup,” Hutton said. “I was surprised to see Eaton do the same thing.” Down 2-0 after the first couple of innings, University plated three runs in the third, including a sacrifice fly by Cole for the Bulldogs’ first lead at 3-2. Eaton swung the momentum and lead back its way in the sixth via Paige Hofer’s sacrifice fly and Rayelle Navarro’s RBI single. But University threw the final haymakers, first by tying the game on Kendall Dietz’s RBI groundout in the sixth prior to Cole’s game-winning swing in the seventh. “(Zacheis) got us all hyped up, and she gave us back our energy for the bottom of that final inning,” Cole said. “My thought in that final at-bat was just to keep it simple. Bria is an amazing pitcher. I have nothing but respect for the Eaton girls. Both teams, we always bring our best game against each other, and that’s what happened again today.” University finished 27-2, with both of its losses coming to Class 4A opponents. Eaton finished 24-5. Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.