Perhaps it’s the vibrant and noisy rubber chickens Pine Creek softball players carry around their dugout or maybe another majestic force has led to the team’s success.

Regardless of the source, Pine Creek welcomed it and that mojo helped the Eagles’ defense hold Widefield below its season average Saturday in an 8-3 victory at home for the Eagles’ third consecutive win in a battle of two top-10 teams.

“They’re our good-luck charm,” Kyleigh Croyle said of the chickens. “They help us get so loud and even when the dugout isn’t loud, the chickens are.”

Croyle joked and added that the chickens “absolutely did the trick” and perhaps she’s correct. With 11 games remaining in the regular season, the Eagles (10-2) are four wins shy of their 2024 total and have frozen teams on defense since dropping two in a row last week.

The Eagles, No. 9 in Colorado High School Activities Association 5A poll, lost 11-7 to Erie on Sept. 7 and followed with a 10-9 defeat to Vista Ridge on Sept. 9. Pine Creek recovered from those losses to piece together its best defensive three-game stretch in two years.

In August 2023, Pine Creek allowed just four runs in four games and outscored its opponents 81-4. During their three-game win streak this year, the Eagles have allowed just five runs in three games and stymied the previously undefeated Gladiators (8-1-1) who average 11.5 runs per game and rank No. 4 in CHSAA’s 4A polls.

Croyle finished the first inning with three strikeouts but those served as the only three she mustered in the contest. That meant the senior pitcher required strong defense from the fielders.

“It’s always nice to have a defense I can trust on the field and they had my back today,” Croyle said.

In the bottom of the first, Croyle hit a home run off Gladiators ace Olivia McEwen, who hadn’t allowed a homer all year, and built a 2-0 lead for the Eagles.

“The first pitch was low and inside and I got my hands through,” Croyle said. “It felt amazing to get that. Our bats were hot all game.”

Makenzie Eberly gave the Eagles a 4-0 cushion later in the first on her only hit of the game, a 2-RBI single past second base that skipped into center field and allowed Kailani Shideler and Layla Laramie to score.

“After that home run we owed it to Kyleigh to help her out since she’s our pitcher too,” Eberly said. “I love low pitches and she gave it to me, so I had to focus on driving that. It got past her, it was a hard hit and it worked out well for me.”

The Eagles carried a 4-0 lead into the third when the Gladiators tacked on a run to make it 4-1. Widefield added two more in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 4-3, but a tremendous fielding effort from Grace Kempf kept the Eagles ahead.

With one out and Taylor Hall at second and Isabella Monk at third, Brooke Foster hammered a shot to deep center field for the Gladiators, but Kempf bolted forward and dipped her glove toward the grass before the ball could drop to put another out on the board.

“Before every play, we get our pitch call and I heard the pitch was an inside changeup on a lefty,” Kempf said. “I figured the ball would go a bit left of where I was, so I adjusted to that pitch and that gave me an extra step to get to the ball.”

The Gladiators added their final run in the top of the fifth, but the Eagles tacked on four more including a three-run burst in the bottom of the sixth to give the game its final margin.

“Kyleigh gets the ball to where the other teams can hit it and we just have to back her up,” Kempf said. “It comes down to communication between teammates and getting set before every play so you can know what you’re doing. I think that’s what’s made us function so well.”