<body><div>The sweet melody of Erie softball’s 2023 season reached a crescendo in its run toward the Class 5A state championship game, but it lost a few of its highest notes to graduation just months after. This season, the Tigers are writing a new refrain.On Thursday at Longmont, the Tigers reached another top C in their 14-1 victory over the Trojans, showing off an offense that has enjoyed no shortage of firepower this season. They needed just four innings to get the job done behind their chief songwriter, senior Lyric DeLozier, who ended her day 2 for 3 at the plate with three RBIs and three runs.Seniors Amaya Shockley and Addison Kozlowitz swung for the fences, each contributing a home run to Erie’s 11-hit total. Its defense held firm behind pitchers Teleena Willert and Sophee Horovitz, who combined for just three strikeouts.To date, the Tigers have netted 192 runs through 19 contests, putting together a 13-6 record.“We’re coming together and keeping our energy high and always supporting each other, knowing we have each other’s backs,” DeLozier said. “I think it’s because we know how good we are, and we know we’ve always been good. We have kind of a reputation to uphold.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2i1uAH_0vlB0qsb00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2i1uAH_0vlB0qsb00" width="1860" height="1240" ><figcaption>1 of 5 Erie’s Braelyn Heer hits the ball during the Tigers’ road game at Longmont on Sept. 26, 2024. (Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com)</figcaption></figure>Last year’s postseason run fell heavily onto the shoulders of top hitter Addie Osborne as well as their two aces, Gracie Sackett and Matix Hull, leaving a bit of a vacuum at the top of the ticket. They had to experience some growing pains through the losses, dropping six of their first eight contests, before ending their growth spurt standing tall.Since then, they’ve won 11 straight.“Honestly, it took a lot of hard work,” DeLozier said. “We struggled a lot in the beginning, but we kind of just came together and figured it out on our own. We had a lot of talks and kind of just came together. To see how far we’ve come from our very first game to now, see how much we’ve grown and how much we’ve been together, we know we got this.”Longmont’s approach to the season has stood in sharp contrast, experiencing most of its success near the start of its schedule before collecting some bumps and bruises over the past three weeks. The Trojans fell to 10-9 with the loss, their lone run coming from senior Kaitlyn Murphey’s bat in the bottom of the third.Senior Avery Wolfsberger clapped and cheered when she crossed home plate, ensuring her team wouldn’t be shut out.“It was more the fact that everybody was still staying up enough to the fact that we were able to come back,” she said. “There was a chance, and I was proud of Kaitlyn for persevering through that new pitcher.“I think our energy has a tendency to get kind of low and when that happens, it shows through the score. When we keep our energy up, it also shows through the score. I think we came in here with a good amount of energy, being like, ‘It is what it is, let’s just go out there and have fun,’ I think we played somewhat solid for as good of a team as (Erie) was.”Longmont will return home to take on Horizon on Monday, while Erie prepares to host Monarch on the same night.View a list of Prep sports and high school teams we cover.</div></body>

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Softball: Erie flattens Longmont with lethal offense

The sweet melody of Erie softball’s 2023 season reached a crescendo in its run toward the Class 5A state championship game, but it lost a few of its highest notes to graduation just months after. This season, the Tigers are writing a new refrain. On Thursday at Longmont, the...