{"id":1316067,"date":"2019-10-24T13:53:34","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T19:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=990070"},"modified":"2019-10-24T13:53:34","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T19:53:34","slug":"zoe-vozick-leads-powerful-basalt-bats-into-3a-state-softball-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/zoe-vozick-leads-powerful-basalt-bats-into-3a-state-softball-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoe Vozick leads powerful Basalt bats into 3A state softball tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Basalt High School senior Zoe Vozick walks back to third base during softball practice Oct. 22 in Basalt.<\/strong>
Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Crazy. Dedicated. Determined.<\/p>\n

Take your pick on an adjective to describe Zoe Vozick\u2019s ascent for the Basalt High School softball team. The senior has become one of the best bats in the state, regardless of classification, and has the Longhorns dreaming big with the 3A state tournament<\/a> set to get underway Friday in Aurora.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big difference I see is she works hard. She practices in addition to our practice. \u2026 Last week after one of our practices she stayed with her dad and hit 100 balls after,\u201d second-year BHS coach David Miller said. \u201cYou need confidence. I think you need a mindset that you are up there and you know you are going to hit it. And I think that\u2019s exactly where Zoe is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vozick was out there practicing in what she called a blizzard last weekend, something few players would likely endeavor to do. But it\u2019s that drive that has her batting .680 this season. It\u2019s that dedication that has her leading the team with 54 runs, 51 hits and 56 RBI. She\u2019s hit 17 doubles, five triples and four home runs this fall.<\/p>\n

Of those numbers, her 56 RBI rank second in the state behind only Makenzie Middleton of Golden, who has 60 according to MaxPreps. Golden is the No. 1 overall seed in Class 4A. Vozick\u2019s 54 runs are fifth in the state among all classifications.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came into the season with a set of goals that I just have worked every day to reach,\u201d Vozick said. \u201cThe team inspires me to reach those goals and I inspire myself. My family, just everyone pushing me to get better has helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vozick was plenty good as a junior, batting .510 with 24 RBI and 21 runs for a team that finished 9-10 overall and lost in its first and only regional game. The problem was she was about the only consistent hitter last fall for the Longhorns, while this year\u2019s squad is loaded with hot bats.<\/p>\n

Freshman Kiera Larson, who bats clean up behind Vozick, is hitting .471 with 39 runs and 34 RBI. Junior Maya Lindgren, who also is the team\u2019s starting pitcher, is hitting .443 with 43 runs and 27 RBI. With so much power at the plate in the early portion of their lineup, trying to pitch around Vozick is tricky.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she gets up to the plate, she is not looking for a walk. She is looking for the pitch to hit out of the park,\u201d Miller said. \u201cSaturday, Maya was on second and they intentionally walk Zoe and I walk over to Kiera and said, \u2018Make them pay.\u2019 And she does. It\u2019s kind of tough as our opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basalt has outscored its opponents 303-113 this season en route to a 22-1 record and No. 2 overall seed in the Class 3A state tournament. It is Basalt\u2019s first trip to state since the 2016 season, when it lost in the first round as the No. 12 seed to No. 5 Lamar, the same team it beat last weekend in the regional championship game<\/a> it hosted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just excited to be back at the state playoff,\u201d said Vozick, who was a freshman during that 2016 season. \u201cI tell myself at the end of the day, no matter what happens this weekend, I know that this season has been so rewarding for everyone on the team and I\u2019m just so happy with everything that has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basalt\u2019s first game Friday is a 12:15 p.m. contest against No. 15 La Junta (14-11) at Aurora Sports Park. The Tigers happen to be the team that beat BHS, 13-6, in regional play a year ago to end the Longhorns\u2019 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m anxious to play them again because we didn\u2019t play them very well last year and we are a different team this year and I\u2019m sure they are, too,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like last year. We are in a whole different place this year. Our mindset is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should Basalt beat La Junta in the rematch, it would play in Friday\u2019s 2:30 p.m. state quarterfinal game against either No. 7 Sterling (17-7) or No. 10 Montezuma-Cortez (17-6). The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Saturday, weather dependent.<\/p>\n

Basalt\u2019s last win at the state tournament came in 2013, when as the No. 9 seed it beat, of all teams, No. 8 La Junta in the first round, 15-1. BHS then lost to No. 1 seed and eventual state champion Strasburg in the quarterfinals, 10-0.<\/p>\n

The Longhorns have never won a state championship in softball.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hard work is finally paying off,\u201d Vozick said. \u201cOur energy going in is so much better. Our team this year is a family and the love, the support, everything just inspires me and inspires the rest of the team to go out and give it our all.\u201d<\/p>\n

acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Basalt High School senior Zoe Vozick walks back to third base during softball practice Oct. 22 in Basalt.Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times Crazy. Dedicated. Determined. Take your pick on an adjective to describe Zoe Vozick\u2019s ascent for the Basalt High School softball team. The senior has become one of the best bats in the state, regardless […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 16:30:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}