Colorado
‘It’s time to go to the show’: Northern Colorado softball to face Oklahoma State in NCAA Tournament
A few hours after arriving home from the Big Sky Conference tournament, the University of Northern Colorado softball team gathered Sunday evening to find out its next opponent.
Winning the conference tournament for the second straight year again earned the Bears a place in the 64- team NCAA Tournament. UNC players, coaches and staff hung out in a classroom in Butler-Hancock Athletic Center to watch the softball selection show on ESPN2.
The Bears (27-24) will soon be packing their bags for Stillwater, Oklahoma where they’ll be one of four teams in the regional hosted by tournament No. 5 seed Oklahoma State (44-10).
UNC plays Oklahoma State at 3:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time Friday (4:30 p.m. Central, according to Oklahoma State’s schedule) in the first game of the double-elimination regional round. Michigan and Kentucky are the other two teams in the Stillwater regional.
UNC played Michigan (41-16) twice in February during its non-conference schedule and lost both games to the Wolverines, 9-1 and 4-1.
“Everybody we play will be good,” UNC coach Dedeann Pendleton-Helm said of facing Oklahoma State. “It’s time to go to the show.”
There are 16 four-team regionals hosted by the national seeds throughout the country to start the tournament. The regional winners advance to the best-of-3 game super regionals. The final eight teams qualify for the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The regionals begin Friday. The super regionals are May 23-26. The Women’s College World Series starts May 30 with the finals June 5-7.
The @UNC_BearsSB team finding out it will play in Oklahoma State regional in NCAA Tournament this week. Bears will be with OKSU – the No. 5 overall seed – and Michigan and Kentucky. 🥎 Bears are 2-time defending @BigSkyConf champs. pic.twitter.com/LWnxbkDMYy
— Anne Giles Delaney (@AnneGDelaney) May 12, 2024
Texas (47-7) is the No. 1 overall seed for the first time ahead of three-time defending WCWS champion Oklahoma (49-6). No. 2 Oklahoma defeated Texas for the Big 12 Conference Tournament title Saturday night. Texas won the Big 12 regular-season title.
Last year, UNC played at the University of Washington and faced the host Huskies in the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. Washington beat UNC 10-2 in six innings. The Bears then lost to Minnesota 4-0.
Sixteen players on the team were also with the Bears a year ago. One of those is outfielder Alyssa Wenzel, who was a first-team Big Sky Conference selection last year.
A senior from California, Wenzel said she is retired after sustaining a back injury earlier this season. She remains with the team. Wenzel was at the Big Sky Tournament and she’ll also go to Oklahoma State.
Wenzel said the team used last year’s experience at NCAAs to their benefit this year. The emphasis this season was on improvement instead of saying they’ll win X number of games and win the conference tournament.
“Every practice, every game, every day, every lift, everything that we did all wanted to do was to be 1% better,” Wenzel said. “I think that got us to where we are now because we were focused on being better people and better players rather than looking for an overall goal.”
Wenzel and Pendleton-Helm said the team sees it can compete with programs from bigger schools and bigger conferences — such as Power 5 schools. The Bears played the final game of the regular season at Pac-12 member Oregon. Pendleton-Helm said the players competed against the Ducks with a calm confidence. The UNC players looked more comfortable and as if they belonged in Oregon’s bigger stadium.
Oregon won 9-2. The Ducks (28-19) are also in the NCAA Tournament, playing in the Norman, Oklahoma regional hosted by the Oklahoma.
“We won’t be as awestruck,” the coach said of what she expects from this year’s NCAA tournament appearance. “It’s how do we win and play our game?”
UNC arrived home in Greeley early Sunday afternoon from the Big Sky tournament in Pocatello, Idaho. The Bears played two games and 18 innings Saturday against Portland State before clinching the title about 7 p.m. The team bused to Wyoming overnight and finished the trip Sunday.
“It’s very exciting,” sophomore first baseman Amailee Morales said. “It’s fun to win back to back (conference titles), it’s fun to extend our season. We’re one of 64 teams left playing and we get to do that for our seniors.”
Morales hit a grand slam in the top of the 10th inning of the second and deciding game against Portland State to secure the tournament championship. Morales was 2-for-4 with two home runs, five RBI and two runs scored in the second game against the Vikings.
“It was electric,” she said of hitting the home run. “The atmosphere, our mood shift, everything. Hitting that lit a fire under us and let us go out and push three outs.”
UNC was the visiting team in the second game, which was played because Portland State beat the Bears 4-3 in eight innings in the first game of the day. After Morales’ home run, the Bears had to play defense with Portland State getting one more chance to hit in the bottom of the 10th.
Morales was named tournament most valuable player after being selected as conference co-player of the year earlier in the week with Sacramento State’s Lewa Day.
Morales’ home run came on a 3-ball and 1-strike count. She said didn’t know the pitch Portland State’s Allicitie Frost threw, but Morales was looking for a strike because the Vikings didn’t want to walk her.
“As soon as I swung, I was like oh, yeah,” she said. “I knew. It’s unreal feeling knowing you did that for your team and knowing that you just helped them to another championship.”
Morales’ grand slam was decisive, but there were multiple other reasons the Bears had a chance to win the game. One of those reasons was junior pitcher Isabelle DiNapoli, who came into the game in the third inning with UNC trailing 3-0.
DiNapoli pitched 7 2/3 innings in relief and controlled the Vikings, giving up only two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. Pendleton-Helm said DiNapoli “came in and dealt,” throwing the ball hard while in control and hitting her spots. Pendleton-Helm called the performance “amazing” and “fantastic.”
DiNapoli is from Littleton and played at Chatfield High School.
She said she had full confidence in her teammates when she came into the game, knowing they “could definitely” come back from the three-run deficit.
“It was definitely a stressful situation,” DiNapoli added. “Between innings we kept reminding ourselves to breathe. I’d take a breath with my teammates on the mound, and we’d just like reminded each other of what we’ve been through and how much hard work we put in.”
In his first spring training action of 2026, Kyle Freeland faced the daunting task of pitching against Team USA in an exhibition game on March 4. He gave up a solo homer to Aaron Judge in a two-hit, one-strikeout performance in one inning.
Today, Freeland and the Rockies (8-6-1) will take part in his first Cactus League action against the White Sox (10-7) at Camelback Ranch. The Rockies are 5-2 on the road this spring vs. 3-5-1, including the showdown vs. Team USA, at Salt River Fields.
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Today’s game represents a rematch of a Feb. 23 showdown where the Rockies beat the White Sox 5-4. Chicago will send Jedisxson Paez to the mound to start the game. The 22-year-old RHP will be making his third spring appearance. He’s posted a 23.14 ERA in 2 1/3 innings over two starts with six earned runs, six hits, including one homer, three strikeouts and one walk. Former Rockie Drew Romo will be starting at catcher for the White Sox.
On Sunday, four pitchers combined to throw five scoreless innings and Kyle Karros and Tyler Freeman each had two-hit performances in the Rockies 4-4 tie with Cleveland. Even though it’s only spring training, the Rockies offense has been much improved thus far. The Rockies rank among all Major League teams this Spring in: on-base percentage (.381, T-1st), home runs (23, T-4th), average (.287, 3rd), HBP (14, T-2nd), slugging (.492, 3rd), OPS (.871, 3rd), runs scored (98, 5th), RBI (91, 6th) and total bases (254, 6th).
Earlier on Monday, the Rockies released a new motto for the 2026 campaign: “New era. At altitude. We are here for the climb.”
First Pitch: 2:05 p.m. MDT
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Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM KOA Rockies Radio Network (1:55 p.m. pregame)
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Data centers: What good are they for Colorado?
Re: “Dueling policies for data centers,” March 1 news story
The Denver Post article about two competing bills in the legislature regarding new data centers in Colorado seems to start with the presumption that we want the data centers.
Why do we want them and who wants them? Is it the politicians wanting bragging rights about our state becoming another Silicon Valley? Perhaps they want more businesses so they can collect more taxes from the new residents. Alternatively, they just want more power in Washington by increasing our population. Has anyone stopped to ask why we want to attract more people to our state?
Colorado is in a fight with other Western states to obtain more water for our growing population. Our wildlife is being crowded out by the increased urbanization. The roads are so crowded that it is not uncommon to come to a complete stop on our interchanges during rush hour. We have a serious housing shortage. The air is being polluted by the increased number of cars. These are all the result of a growing population. Did anyone stop to ask why we want more people?
During my 53 years living in Colorado, I have never heard anyone (other than politicians) say, “We need more people.” On the contrary, the conversation is more often about how we are becoming overcrowded. I would like the politicians to explain why we need more businesses and more people in our state. It should not be a presumption that more is better! Are our elected representatives truly reflecting the wishes of their constituents?
Doug Hurst, Parker
Anger and disbelief were our reactions when we read about House Bill 1030, which is under consideration at the statehouse. This outrageous corporate welfare bill would provide some of the world’s wealthiest corporations with massive state tax reductions to build monstrous resource-thirsty data centers. Analysts projected a $92.5 million tax loss in just three years if a bunch of these data centers are built. Just one 160-megawatt facility would gobble up as much power as 176,000 homes once completed. Consider for comparison that the entire DIA airport uses around 45 megawatts of power!
As the state legislature grapples with bone-deep budget cuts, we cannot afford to exempt data centers from paying their own way nor allow their unregulated construction. Taxpayer-funded corporate handouts would entail massive hits to tax revenue that should be used for our schools, roads, infrastructure, and valid state needs. What essential services will potentially be cut or axed to cover the lost revenue to the state from this corporate giveaway?
These data centers also demand massive amounts of our water. A CoreSite data center in Denver alone will use approximately 805,000 gallons of water per day to air-condition its computers. That is the same as the average daily indoor water use of 16,100 Denver homes.
I pray our state legislature will condemn HB-1030 to the corporate welfare hell where it belongs in. Instead, they should support Senate Bill 102 that will hopefully properly regulate these tax-eating, water-wasting, and electricity-gobbling monstrosities.
Terry Talbot, Grand Junction
As a pediatrician, I’ve noticed one key issue missing from the data center debate: public health.
Data centers are extraordinarily energy- and water-intensive. Nationally, they already consume about 4% of U.S. electricity — a figure expected to more than double by 2030. Much of that power still comes from burning fossil fuels. Without strong safeguards, that growth means more air pollution. In my clinical practice, I see firsthand how health is shaped by the air we breathe. More pollution means more asthma attacks, heart disease, and premature deaths, especially in communities already burdened by poor air quality.
Water use is another concern. Large data centers can use enormous amounts of water for cooling. In a drought-prone state like Colorado, this raises serious questions about long-term drinking water reliability and heat resilience.
Energy affordability is also a health issue. When infrastructure is built to serve massive corporate users, costs can shift to households. I see the effects of energy insecurity in families forced to choose between cooling their homes, buying medication, or putting food on the table.
Colorado has an opportunity to get this right. Senate Bill 102 would establish guardrails to protect ratepayers, limit pollution, and ensure large electricity users pay their full infrastructure costs. Other states, including Michigan and Virginia, are reconsidering generous tax incentives after seeing how quickly public costs can outpace public benefit.
Colorado can welcome innovation without sacrificing clean air, clean water, affordable energy, and community health. Public health must be a priority, not an afterthought.
Clare Burchenal, Denver
As the story makes clear, data centers in our communities have real impacts on our health, our pocketbooks and our quality of life. I’m a mom of two small children who are counting on the adults in the room to make responsible decisions that impact their futures. It’s dizzying to see the pace of data centers sweeping the country and confusing as to why leaders are rushing to accommodate them without taking into consideration all of the impacts these massive industrial complexes have on communities.
It’s critical that data centers are powered by clean-burning renewable energy, not fossil fuels. We are in a no-snow winter in Colorado, and we have no safeguards in place against data center water use. Energy infrastructure should be paid for by the billion-dollar big tech companies that will profit from it, not by unfair rate increases for our families and small businesses.
There is a way to do this right. Senate Bill 102 has some important protections for our families and communities while still allowing for the responsible construction and operation of data centers built in appropriate places in our state. It is unacceptable that our leaders do nothing to protect us from big tech excesses. SB-102 will protect all Colorado kids – and their parents and communities. Join me in urging our legislators to pass this important bill.
Sara Kuntzler, Arvada
U.S. women’s hockey players above the game and politics
Re: “Trump tore athletes down on the world’s stage,” March 1 commentary
Dear Megan Schrader,
Thank you for your column on how the president disrespected the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team. Your excellent commentary hit and sent the puck into the back of the net, so to speak.
To take it a step further, I believe the women’s choice not to visit the White House was more than meets the eye. Ostensibly, they declined the invitation because of the timing, specifically the resumption of play in the professional women’s hockey league.
Yet, I would like to believe it was more an expression of contempt for the president and his policies.
The women were smarter and braver and truer to their values than were the men’s Olympic hockey team, who, with the same timing issues, chose to accept the invitation to the White House. That visit and the visit to the State of the Union Address only helped bolster the president’s optics. An exception was the Colorado Avalanche’s own Brock Nelson, who declined to accompany the men’s team because he valued his family time more than a public charade.
In sports — as in life — we need more people like the women hockey players who will elevate their values above the games and politics.
Bill Allegar, Denver
Backing up to park for safety?
Re: “Do you back into a parking spot or back out?” March 1 feature story
I read this with slight amusement. For someone who has traveled a bit, and especially in Asia (Japan in particular), backing into a parking space is a very common practice (not a new trend) and has been for decades. On my first trip to Japan, around 1992, I was told it was what most people did.
As for the company Imminent Threat Solutions recommending “tactical parking” because they should “prevail against all threats,” seems like marketing hype of the biggest kind, building fear into your daily life of running errands and going to work. Has there been bad behaviour, shootings, and whatnot in a parking lot? Sure, but let’s not build fear for something that happens rarely to the average individual.
Randy DeBoer, Denver
To add to the parking procedures article in Sunday’s paper, there is another option, one that I use and recommend; it’s the “drive-through” to an open space.
After having been hit and having a rental car damaged (a three-month hassle to resolve) by a driver who backed out of an opposite space without looking, I don’t drive into a parking space if I can help it. What I do instead is find an open space where I can drive in straight and continue to a back-to-back adjoining space where I can park and then drive ahead to depart. These parking spots are typically a longer walk to my destination, and I benefit from the additional steps.
G. E. Cole, Centennial
I enjoyed your article on discussing whether to back in or pull straight into parking spaces. Our oldest son is a backer-inner, and I am starting to be one too. What is missing from your analysis, though, is the grocery store, much less Costco or Home Depot. Almost nobody is a backer-inner in these places, since you’re typically loading stuff in your backseat, hatch, or pickup bed. I guess the backer-inners are just not going to be able to escape as quickly once they’ve picked up 50 pounds of dog food, 25 rolls of paper towels, or five sheets of 4′ x 8′ plywood. Hope they survive.
Tim Hickisch, Highlands Ranch
You can support immigrants and the law
Re: “Faith communities show support for immigrants,” Feb. 22 news story
Faith communities do show support for immigrants. I don’t agree with those who stand against the law and ICE. While we may support all people made in the image of God, we should not be for illegal immigrants. They have broken the law, and some are doing great harm while living here. Legal immigrants, please come. Illegal immigrants, please go home and come here legally.
Deanna R Walworth, Brighton
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Early Sunday morning, Colorado rescue crews found the body of a missing skier who was killed in a recent avalanche.
The skier was reported missing in the Boss Basin area in the upper portion of Resolution Creek on March 7.
Summit County Rescue Group, Vail Mountain Rescue and the Summit and Eagle County Sheriff’s Offices began searching the area and discovered the site of the avalanche. They noticed that nearby ski and snowmobile tracks led up to where it occurred.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says Flight for Life helped with the search. They found the body of the missing skier in the avalanche debris on Sunday, around sunrise.
CAIC staff said the avalanche started near the treeline on a northeast-facing slope and was about two feet deep. The slope angles ranged from 33 to 36 degrees.
According to CAIC data, this is the first person killed in an avalanche during the 2025-2026 ski season.
Avalanche danger in some parts of the high country is considerable, particularly on north- and east-facing slopes and on large open slopes just below ridgelines.
The CAIC Forecast for Sunday says:
“The avalanche danger will stay at CONSIDERABLE (3of5) on Sunday for the places that picked up the most snow in this last storm (Elk and Sawatch Ranges). Areas that received less than 8 inches will go back to MODERATE danger, but this may vary significantly from drainage to drainage and with elevation. Assume a higher danger if you find a foot or more of new snow. Across the region, wind-drifted slopes will remain the most dangerous regardless of the danger. In the shallower areas (Elks and Sawatch), we’re more concerned about avalanches in motion breaking deeper, failing in buried facet layers.
On Sunday, as the sun pops out, remember that a strong spring sun can make sunny slopes unstable rather quickly. Keep an eye out for roller balls as an indication of a forthcoming shed cycle of loose avalanches.”
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