Widefield hadn’t lost consecutive games all season.

But the Gladiators hadn’t defeated rival Mesa Ridge in softball since Oct. 6, 2016, and Widefield dropped the first game of a home-and-home last week to the Grizzlies 8-6.

Something had to give, right? And the Gladiators had no intentions of dropping back-to-back games.

The Gladiators ended a 12-game losing streak against Mesa Ridge in dominant fashion with a 13-1 win last week; a notable victory and a microcosm of the Gladiators’ performance this season.

“It was a big item we checked off our bucket list,” Widefield’s Brooke Foster said. “It felt amazing. It’s been on the bucket list since like sixth grade. With my sister (Robyn) being two years older than me, I got the background of it and had that fire since sixth grade of wanting to beat Mesa.”

After starting the season 2-2, the Gladiators have a 13-4 record and 196 runs through 17 games. In their 13 victories, theY have run ruled – a victory by 10 or more runs – nine of their opponents including the blowout win against Mesa Ridge.

“We played our game and we knew once we did that, we knew we could win,” Hall said. “We all have so much passion for the game and after our loss I knew we were going to come back. We just had to use that fire. We had to let it hurt just a little bit and then we had to go.”

Hall continues to lead the Gladiators and, in Widefield’s previous three games, the junior has been a supernova.

In two contests against the Grizzlies, Hall finished 4-of-8 with eight RBIs, a double, a triple and a home run in each game. Hall leads her team in six hitting categories and is fifth in 4A in RBIs with 32.

Against The Classical Academy on Sept. 28, a game Widefield won 19-9 versus the No. 8 team in 3A, Hall finished 4-of-6 with three RBIs and three doubles.

“It’s been easy (to play) knowing that my teammates have my back and I have theirs,” Hall said. “The first time against Mesa Ridge, when I went up to bat, I looked at (Isabella Monk) and said, ‘I got your back if you got mine.’ She got on base and then I hit my home run. We’ve had so much energy and compassion for each other and nobody can stop us when we have that.”

As electric as the offense remains for the Gladiators, they’re also stout in the circle as freshman Olivia McEwen has set a new pitching standard for Widefield.

McEwen shattered the school’s single-season strikeout record of 59 set by Dana Atencio in 2016 and has 88 with six games remaining.

While McEwen said she’s happy with her work this year, she enjoyed her bounce-back performance against the Grizzlies. In the opener against Mesa Ridge, McEwen pitched a full game and allowed eight runs on 10 hits, walked four batters and struck out a pair of Grizzlies.

“We knew they could hit my fast ball and I was missing my spots a lot in the first game,” McEwen said. “I threw it down the middle sometimes and they crushed the ball.”

In the second game, McEwen and the Gladiators held the Grizzlies, who average nine runs per contest, to their second lowest total of the season and the freshman finished the matchup with six strikeouts and allowed six hits.

“In the second game I did a better job with my off speed and hitting my spots more, so they couldn’t get a good bat on the ball,” McEwen said. “I was so mad about the loss and I knew we should’ve won, but we just weren’t on our game that day. I was locked in for the second game.”

The Gladiators hope to maintain that focus in the final weeks of the regular season. Widefield has already matched its win total from 2023 and with six games remaining have a chance to eclipse 16 wins, a mark they hit in 2009 and 2019.

“We just have to work on what we can work on and focus there,” Foster said. “Having each others’ backs is one of the biggest components to our success.”