Holy Family has learned over the years it can't take anything for granted when it lines up against Faith Christian.

Never mind that the Tigers handled Faith Christian during the regular season.

With a berth in the Class 3A state semifinals on the line Friday afternoon, Faith Christian threw its best punches at the Tigers, but the top-seeded Tigers prevailed 4-3 at the Aurora Sports Park.

Valley, Platte Canyon and defending state champion Erie also advanced to today's semifinals, which are scheduled for 10 a.m. The finals are scheduled for 1 p.m.

For Holy Family to get there, it had to survive a tough test.

"I'm so happy we came away with a win," Holy Family's Lara Mathewson said. "They're always tough the second time we play them."

During the regular season, Holy Family (18-1) beat Faith Christian 13-7. This time, Faith Christian (14-7) had a 1-0 lead until the top of the fifth.

In the fifth, the Tigers strung together four hits for three runs, including a two-run single by Daiva Jarasius and an RBI single by Amy Baumberger.

"We had to come through with the sticks, and we always do," Mathewson said.

Faith Christian tied it with runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but Holy Family took advantage of Eagles errors to score the winning run in the seventh.

Faith Christian came into the game on fire. The Eagles had outscored Machebeuf and Basalt a combined 46-0 in the first two rounds of the tournament.

"We knew they were gunning for us," Mathewson said. "Everyone here is gunning for us as the first seed, but we knew especially they were because they're our rivals."

Holy Family, which won the 2006 title, beat Platte Valley 12-2 in the opener. Today, the Tigers will face Valley.

"We're ready to move on to (today)," Mathewson said. "It was a great game (against Faith), but we're ready for (today)."

So is Valley. For the first time, the Vikings will be in the final four, and they got there in dramatic fashion.

Valley and Cheyenne Wells were tied at 2-2 after seven innings, and that tie wasn't broken until the bottom of the 10th. Taylor Hutton drew a leadoff walk, and Julie Meining ripped a double to the left-center field fence to score Hutton.

"I hit a home run last year, but that was even better than that," said Meining, who went 2-for-5 against Cheyenne Wells. "Just being a senior and being that's how we got to the final four, I'm going to look back and be like, 'Wow.'

"That was our whole goal this year."

Erie kept its eye on a ninth state title in nine years. The Tigers knocked off Rocky Ford 10-0 and Limon 5-1.

Platte Canyon reached the seimfinals by winning its two games identical by 11-1 scores against Eaton and La Junta. Pitcher Jessie Marshall gave up only two runs in her 10 innings.

STATE SOFTBALL SCORES

Class 5A

Aurora Sports Park, Complex C

First round, Friday

Rocky Mountain 8, Standley Lake 1

Ralston Valley 6, G.J. Central 0

Mountain Vista 5, Pomona 0

Chaparral 6, Cherokee Trail 1

Bear Creek 5, Loveland 1

Highlands Ranch 5, Arvada West 1

Columbine 1, Brighton 0

Legacy 8, Grandview 0

Quarterfinals, Friday

Ralston Valley 9, Rocky Mountain 1

Mountain Vista 3, Chaparral 1

Bear Creek 13, Highlands Ranch 2

Legacy 4, Columbine 0

Semifinals, 10 a.m. today

[4] Mountain Vista (20-3) vs. [8] Ralston Valley (16-7)

[3] Bear Creek (21-2) vs. [2] Legacy (21-2)

Championship, 2 p.m. today

Class 4A

Aurora Sports Park, Complex B

First round, Friday

Wheat Ridge 10, Delta 0

Conifer 1, Pueblo South 0

Castle View 8, Pueblo Central 0

Windsor 18, Falcon 0

Frederick 11, D'Evelyn 7

Mullen 3, Widefield 2

Mountain View 3, Lewis-Palmer 2

Northridge 11, Pueblo Centennial 0

Quarterfinals, Friday

Wheat Ridge 7, Conifer 2

Windsor 7, Castle View 3

Frederick 5, Mullen 4

Mountain View 1, Northridge 0

Semifinals, 10 a.m. today

[1] Wheat Ridge (21-2) vs. [12] Windsor (17-7)

[7] Mountain View (18-5) vs. [14] Frederick (17-7)

Championship, 1:30 p.m. today

Class 3A

Aurora Sports Park, Complex A

Second round, Friday

Holy Family 12, Platte Valley 2

Faith Christian 23, Basalt 0

Valley 4, Lyons 3

Cheyenne Wells 8, Burlington 0

Erie 10, Rocky Ford 0

Limon 6, Gunnison 0

La Junta 14, Strasburg 4

Platte Canyon 11, Eaton 1

Quarterfinals, Friday

Holy Family 4, Faith Christian 3

Valley 3, Cheyenne Wells 2

Erie 5, Limon 1

Platte Canyon 11, La Junta 1

Semifinals, 10 a.m. today

[1] Holy Family (18-1) vs. [4] Valley (14-7)

[2] Erie (19-2) vs. [6] Platte Canyon (15-5)

Championship, 1 p.m. today

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