It took three Lowthers to get Rocky Ford to today's round of 16 of the Class 3A softball state tournament.

There was pitcher Amber Lowther, the most obvious contributor, whose 10 strikeouts catapulted the Meloneers to a 3-1 win against Wray at Aurora Sports Park in an opening-round game. Then there was coach Mark Lowther, who called the shots in his 18th-seeded squad's mild upset of the 15th-seeded Eagles.

Don't forget about freshman Taylor Lowther, though, whose bloop two-run double in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie and turned out to be the difference.

"I'm so excited for her," said Amber Lowther, a junior. "She's grown a lot this year. It's been kind of hard at times because she's my sister and we fight a lot, but it was good for her to get a really big hit."

Thursday's action featured the Nos. 9-24 seeds as the top eight seeds already had earned spots in the round-of-16 bracket.

Rocky Ford, which played in the only reasonably close game of Thursday's eight, will play second-seeded Erie today, a Tigers squad that has advanced to every title game since the classification was formed in 1998.

"I want to play them tough," Amber Lowther said. "I don't want any team to just walk all over us. We've definitely got a lot to show. We've come along way this season."

The same can be said of 16th-seeded Platte Valley, which faces an equally tough challenge in drawing top-seeded Holy Family. Platte Valley lost 11-0 to Holy Family on Aug. 23 in the opener but seems to be riding high after beating Florence 8-2 behind a standout performance by pitcher Megan Niederkorn.

"I don't think we were quite as prepared as we are now," said Niederkorn, who pitched a complete game and went 2-for-4 with an RBI against Florence. "I think our hitting is coming along and we've got a little momentum. Hopefully, that'll carry over."

Other than Rocky Ford, the only lower-seeded team to carve out a victory was 19th-seeded Strasburg, which walloped No. 14 Denver Lutheran 11-2 behind a standout performance by center fielder Jaime Spence (2-for-4, a home run and three RBI). The Indians will take on La Junta today.

Other winners included ninth-seeded Faith Christian, which thumped Machebeuf 23-0 in three innings as Taylor Johnson struck out nine of the 11 batters she faced and Myndee Thompson capped the rout with a grand slam. The Eagles moved on to face Basalt.

Eaton clobbered Middle Park 12-2 with Annita Alvarez homering for the Reds, who will take on Platte Canyon. Lyons also won big, rampaging Peak to Peak 11-1 with sophomore Jaicy Sutak tossing a complete game as the Lions progressed to a matchup against Valley.

Western Slope representative Gunnison crushed Sheridan 11-0 as second baseman Roselie Haga recorded two doubles among her three hits, allowing the Cowboys to move on to a matchup against Limon.

Cheyenne Wells also won big, buoyed by junior catcher Casey Mitchek, who went 4-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBI from the leadoff spot.

The Tigers and their Cincinnati Bengals-esque uniforms will be on display today against Burlington.