Niwot High softball preview

Take a solid core of outstanding returning starters, sprinkle in some transfer talent and add a dash of fresh new faces, and Niwot High School softball Coach Bobby Matthews thinks he has the recipe to challenge the top teams in a very strong Longs Peak Conference this season.

After finishing 9-14 and missing the regional tournament a year ago, Matthews believes this year’s team has just the right ingredients to compete with conference foes like Riverdale Ridge High School, Frederick High School, and Roosevelt High School. Riverdale, the conference champs a year ago, and Frederick faced off in the quarterfinals of last year’s 4A state tournament, where Frederick ousted the Ravens. The Golden Eagles lost to the eventual state champion Lutheran High School in the semifinals.

So, Matthews’ club has an uphill battle, but he believes his team has the chemistry to challenge for a conference title.

“What I think is our real strengths are our chemistry and our leadership,” Matthews explained. “This is a really great group that wants to work hard and do well.”

That leadership starts with seniors Anne Booth and Autumn Rutherford. Both players earned all-conference honors after their sophomore and junior years. Through three varsity seasons at Niwot, both players have recorded over 100 base hits in their careers.

Booth has been a pitcher most of her high school career, but Matthews hopes that the addition of new talent at that position will allow her to play third base this season where, “she will be able to showcase more of her athleticism,” Matthews said. That athleticism has led to an offer from Brown University to play lacrosse for the Bears next year in Providence, Rhode Island.

Rutherford will be back playing centerfield and shortstop for the Cougars. Her talents have earned her a Division I offer to stay close to home and play softball for the Colorado State University Rams after graduation.

“They are both just outstanding athletes, and they are really good people and teammates,” Matthews offered. “They want everyone to succeed and really go out of their way to help the other players – sometimes to their own detriment. But that’s just who they are.”

Other returning varsity players include seniors Jenna Hobson (OF) and Zoe Cameron (1B), juniors Saleen Amaya (C) and Julia Philofsky (OF), and sophomore infielder Peyton Johnson.

One of the new faces on the team that Matthews hopes will free up Booth from some of her previous pitching responsibilities is transfer Kianna Butler. The junior comes to Niwot from Arizona where she pitched in the 2A state championship. Her Northland Prep Academy Spartans narrowly lost in the finals, 4-3. Joining Butler as a transfer is junior Madison Dodge, who had to sit out her sophomore year before becoming eligible to join the varsity squad this season.

Two fresh new faces hoping to contribute to varsity success this season are freshmen Camryn Legh, a middle infielder and pitcher, and mid-infielder May Herrera.

“We have a couple of new freshmen and a couple of transfers who will be able to help us out and give us more depth and let some of the other players move into the actual positions they should be playing,” Matthews explained. “That depth means we’ll have more competition at practice and that’s always a good thing. Last year we had 24 girls go out for the team and this year we have 36, so I’m really excited about that (growth).”

With all the promise of a new season, Matthews knows that it will be the play on the field that determines if 2023 will be a success. Still, he has high hopes and goals for the year.

“I want to see us get at least into the Sweet 16 in the postseason and challenge for the conference title,” Matthews said. “We have a very strong league. Riverdale Ridge has 65 players in their program, so they have tremendous depth. Frederick should be good again as well as Roosevelt. But I think we should be able to compete with them. We played all of them strong last year, usually for four or five innings, but then things just got away from us a little bit. I don’t expect that to happen this season.”

The Cougars will get an early test when they host Frederick, Tuesday, Aug. 15, on their home diamond at 4 p.m.