On a day of adjustments, the Central High School softball team made the right ones at the right time.

The Warriors, pushed to the limit in their drive to advance to the Class 5A state tournament, defeated Arapahoe 9-6 in the decisive game at the Region 7 tournament Saturday afternoon to claim their third trip to state in the past four years.

But they had to adjust to a suffocating 9-2 loss to Lakewood in their second game of the regional tournament at Columbine Park.

The Warriors had opened the day with a dominating 14-0 victory over Loveland.

“I made adjustments in the second game because the pitching was a little bit faster,” Central junior Jenna Fraser said. “So I moved back in the (batter’s) box and I think that really helped me. It helped me see the ball better.”

Fraser referred to Lakewood pitcher Destiny Martinez, who shut down the Central offense after the Warriors had pounded out 13 hits in the win over Loveland.

Facing the hard-throwing Martinez after crushing Loveland’s off-speed pitching, Central managed only three hits in the loss that forced a game against Arapahoe to determine the region’s final qualifier.

Fraser’s adjustments in the game against Arapahoe produced four hits, including a sixth-inning bases-loaded single that drove in Central’s final insurance run.

“Seeing the (Lakewood) pitcher helped me make adjustments faster (in the final game),” said Fraser, a first basemen who also pitched the second game for Central.

Right fielder Bailee Ritterbush, who had three hits and drove in two runs against Arapahoe, said the Warriors had to adjust after facing Lakewood’s shut-down pitcher.

“You’ve got to turn the page; every game is a new game. Softball players have short memories,” Ritterbush said. “We had to take it pitch by pitch, at-bat by at-bat.”

A junior, Ritterbush drove in Central’s first run against Arapahoe with a sacrifice fly.

She added a ringing RBI double that bounced off the fence in left-center in the fourth inning. She also scored twice.

She and Fraser both credited senior pitcher Kennedy Vis for powering the Warriors back to the state tournament.

“Kennedy is very tough mentally and physically. She really carries the team on her back, like Bailee said,” Fraser said. “She’s kind of the mom of the team; she holds us together.”

“Kennedy is an amazing player,” Ritterbush added after Vis had allowed only one hit in the shutout victory over Loveland.

Vis returned to the circle in the third game, scattering 13 hits through seven innings. She kept Arapahoe off balance until the sixth inning when Arapahoe rallied with four runs to cut Central’s lead to 8-6.

But Fraser drove in Central’s ninth run and then Vis finished the tournament with a strikeout (her sixth) for the final out.

“Ken’s had a rough week,” head coach Aaron Berk said of Vis. “She had a bit of a cough earlier this week. She didn’t throw as many bullpens as we wanted. But she came out and worked hard and did the things we needed to keep us in the game.”

Berk said the Central team knew it would face high-quality hitters in the final contest.

“They can really hit. They put the ball in play,” Berk said of the Arapahoe batters. “They scrap and scrap and scrap. Give credit to them. They battled all the way down to the last out.

“She (Vis) answered the call in this game. We needed a win, and she got it for us.”

The Central coach said the loss to Lakewood and pitcher Martinez forced the Central hitters to make changes against Arapahoe.

“And this girl threw hard, too,” Berk said of Arapahoe starter Taylor Miller. “So again, it was about making those adjustments — at-bat to at-bat.”

Martinez, with a dizzying mix of sharp-breaking curve balls and timely rise balls, struck out 16 Central batters in Lakewood’s 9-2 win. She walked none and hit one batter.

Rylee Halcomb and Sidona Johnston singled for Central in the loss. And Olivia Litzen blasted a two-run home to right field for Central’s only runs.

In the opening victory when Central beat Loveland, Litzen had a double and two singles. Fraser had two hits, including a two-run single in the first.

Emma Diaz also had a pair of hits for Central as did Halcomb.

“It’s so exciting … to go to state,” Central’s Ritterbush said. “We’ve worked so hard these last few months and over the summer. We couldn’t have done it without each other.”

“We really do this for our seniors,” Fraser said. “We want them to go out on a good note.”

Central (21-5) and its seniors will be playing in a third state tournament.

“We’re on to the (round of) 16,” Berk said. “And anything can happen.”

In the 5A Region 6 tournament, Fruita Monument lost 16-4 to Chatfield in the first round, then beat Fort Collins 13-3 to advance to the second qualifying game. The Wildcats (13-13) lost 10-3 to Smoky Hill to end their season.

Against Chatfield, Lauren Lee hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to give Fruita a quick lead, but the Chargers scored eight runs in the bottom of the inning and never looked back. Lee added an RBI single in the fourth inning and Ava Stephens also had two hits for the Wildcats.

In the loss to Smoky Hill, Fruita again scored first with Lee scoring on a passed ball in the second inning. The Buffaloes scored five runs in the bottom of the second to pull away. Lee led the way for Fruita with two hits.

In the 4A Region 4 tournament, Palisade lost 17-2 to host Riverdale Ridge and ended its season with a 14-0 loss to Frederick.

Melanie Valdez had one of the Bulldogs’ three hits and added two RBI against Riverdale Ridge. Melissa Carroll and Neisha McGinnett also had hits. Palisade (14-11) managed only three hits — from Carroll, Jetta Rivera and Anaiah Guajardo-Zarate — in the shutout loss to Frederick. Also in 4A, Rifle was blanked in both of its losses in the Region 2 tournament, falling 10-0 to Elizabeth and 8-0 to Roosevelt.

In the 3A Region 5 tournament, Delta lost 9-3 to Fort Lupton. Alexis Putney, Tatem Miller, Juelz Sandoval and Jillian Robinson all had two hits in the loss, with Robinson collecting two RBI for the Panthers (8-13). Also in 3A, Larissa Cotten had the only hit for Cedaredge in the Bruins’ 15-0 loss to Eaton.