Ark Valley Round Up by Randy Robinson

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Ark Valley Round Up by Randy Robinson

The Ark Valley Round up gives us a inside look into the Ark Valley as Randy Robinson dives into Football, Volleyball and Softball. It’s a great in depth dive into the regions sports.

Another sports filled week in the Arkansas Valley is in the books. Softball saw the regular season come to a close. While football and volleyball saw plenty of action.

Softball

Softball had a light schedule this week. Starting us off on Tuesday was the La Junta Lady Tigers finishing their regular season as they traveled to James Irwin. La Junta got ahead early on the scoreboard and wouldn’t look back. The Lady Tigers rolled to a 18-6 victory. This would have the Tigers at 14-9 Overall and 6-2 in the 3A Tri-Peaks. They would end up finishing fourth in the league.

When regional softball brackets were announced Monday La Junta learned who and where they would be playing. The Tigers earned the #16 seed and will travel to Eaton on Saturday to take on the #17 Forge Christian Lady Fury at 12:15pm. The other game in the region is #1 Eaton vs. #32 Jefferson Academy, that game is at 10am. The winners of the games will advance to the State Tournament and will play for the Regional Championship at 2:15pm.

The Rocky Ford Lady Meloneers were also in action on Tuesday as they hosted the Woodland Park Lady Panthers. Rocky Ford would score nine runs in the first two innings on the way to a decisive 13-1 win. This would make Thursday’s game just a little more interesting.

On Thursday, Rocky Ford would travel to Lamar for a crucial Tri-Peaks matchup. The Meloneers also became scoreboard watchers as the result of the game between Wiley and Alamosa played a role in how the league would end up. WIley would defeat Alamosa 10-6, so Rocky Ford turned their attention to spoiling Lamar’s bid for the league title. The Lady Meloneers would come out on top of a back and forth game 5-4. This would put Rocky Ford at 15-8 Overall and 7-1 in the 3A Tri-Peaks. They would end up finishing 2nd behind Wiley due to a head to head tiebreaker.

The Meloneers learned their fate on Monday as well when regional brackets came out. They earned the #10 seed, and will travel to Thomas Jefferson for their regional on Saturday. Rocky Ford will play #23 Resurrection Christian at 10am. The other matchup in the region is #7 Thomas Jefferson vs. #26 Yuma County at 12:15pm. Again the winners head to Aurora and the State Tournament next week, and meet for the Regional Championship at 2:15pm.

Volleyball

Volleyball action on Tuesday saw four sweeps and a four set match. The Cheraw Lady Wolverines traveled to Rocky Ford to take on the Lady Meloneers in a cross valley match. Cheraw would come out on top in three (25-13, 25-16, 25-13). Fowler continued their strong second half of the season with a three set sweep of Swallows Charter (25-15, 25-9, 26-24). Las Animas would sweep Manzanola in another cross valley match (25-15, 25-10, 25-14). The Crowley County Lady Chargers would sweep the Holly Lady Wildcats (25-18, 25-23, 27-25). And our only match Tuesday to go more than three sets was in Colorado Springs as the La Junta Lady Tigers would fall to the James Irwin Lady Jaguars in four (27-25, 25-16, 25-27, 25-17).

The La Junta Lady Tigers were once again in a four set decision on Thursday, this time though they were on the winning side as they took down Manitou Springs (25-20, 25-17, 15-25, 25-21). Las Animas continued their winning ways with a three set sweep of Crowley County (25-18, 27-25, 26-24). And ending Thursday’s action Fowler swept Walsenburg (25-11, 25-14, 25-17).

There was one volleyball match contested on Friday and it was a thriller. Cheraw and Kit Carson would need all five sets to decide a winner. The Wolverines would come out on top (25-23, 20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 17-15).

Saturday’s volleyball schedule saw tournament action take center stage. The Swink Lady Lions held the Swink Classic finishing 2-1 in the tournament. They would defeat Holly in game one 3-0 (25-14, 25-4, 25-13). Game two saw the Lady Lions square off with the Custer County Lady Bobcats with Swink taking the win in three (25-14, 25-11, 25-10). This set up the final game of the Swink Classic as the Championship match. Swink would take on Vanguard with both teams not wanting to give an inch. In the end the Coursers would take the win in a five set thriller (18-25, 27-25, 15-25, 25-20, 15-13).

The Rocky Ford Lady Meloneers traveled to McClave for the McClave Tournament on Saturday finishing at 0-4. They would be swept by Walsh 2-0 (25-21, 25-22). As well as swept by Granada 2-0 (25-22, 25-17). The third match of the day for the Meloneers saw them fall in two to the Eads Lady Eagles (25-15, 25-11). And the final match of the day saw Rocky Ford be swept by South Baca (25-11, 25-12).

Cheraw traveled to Stratton for the Stratton Tournament where they would finish 2-1. The Lady Wolverines opened the tournament with a two set sweep of Lone Star. They then turned their attention to Burlington and also took that in a two set sweep (25-19, 25-17). To end their day the Lady Wolverines took on the hosts Stratton Lady Eagles, it took all three sets to decide a winner in this one. Stratton would come out on top (25-19, 24-26, 15-12).

At the time of this writing no score was given for the Manzanola and Antonito volleyball game. That was the Bobcat’s homecoming game.

Football

A better week for Arkansas Valley football teams this week as they would finish 3-1 on Friday. Cheraw would pick up their first win of the season as they would take down Kit Carson in a low scoring 6-Man football game 18-6. Fowler handled Custer County to get back in the win column 52-0. La Junta continued their dominance as they showed it against Woodland Park in a 52-0 win. The lone loss came in Las Animas as the Trojans would fall in their homecoming game to McClave 59-0.

Football went 3-0 on Saturday, with the Crowley County Chargers defeating Dolores Huerta 62-22. Swink would get back on track with a win over WIley 50-7. Manzanola would win their homecoming football game over Antonito and pick up their first win of the year 52-26.

GAMES TO WATCH:

SOFTBALL