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Lyons High School may be small, but the level of talent it possesses on the softball field has the Lions swinging like a heavyweight. The departure of last year’s ace, Ceci Chiaravalle, would have crippled a normal program in the year that followed. Chiaravalle led the entire state with 255 strikeouts through 23 games, and served as the catalyst toward the Lions winning regionals and earning a bid to the 3A state tournament. Her sophomore successor, Gretta Wynja, already has 126 strikeouts through 14 appearances, ranking her 13th in the nation and No.

CLASS 5A Douglas County (3-0) vs. No. 8 Castle View (3-0) When/where: 6:30 p.m. Thursday at EchoPark Stadium Last meeting: Castle View 29, at Douglas County 7, Sept. 15, 2023 The Battle of the Rock comes to … Parker? Castle View has won seven of the last 10 between these two, but Douglas County has taken two of three since 2021.

Denver continues to make moves within its outside linebacker group after Baron Browning’s Week 2 foot injury against Pittsburgh. The Broncos are promoting outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman to the 53-man roster, a source confirmed to The Post on Wednesday morning. Tillman, a former UFL standout, spent the offseason with Denver and was on the practice squad for the first two weeks of the regular season. It’s the second OLB-related move the Broncos have made since Browning’s injury.

John Griffin ran from denial to acceptance in 4.4 flat. Griffin, the former Wyoming wide receiver, longtime Denverite, stalwart humanitarian and one of the Cowboys’ iconic “Black 14,” read about the reported collapse of the Mountain West and spun out of anger’s arm tackle. He juked bargaining. He trucked depression. “First off, I thought, ‘That’s interesting,'” the ex-Pokes wideout said of CSU’s leap to the Pac-12 late last week.

Denver Post sports writer Patrick Saunders with the latest installment of his Rockies Mailbag. Pose a Rockies- or MLB-related question for the Rockies Mailbag. We open with two questions regarding the future of Rockies’ catchers. Patrick, what are the Rockies going to do with three catchers (Jacob Stallings, Hunter Goodman and Drew Romo), and what does that mean for their future? — Renee, Cody, Wyo. Patrick, I hear and see so many good things about Jacob Stallings.

NIWOT — Don’t let Kianna Butler’s ingenuous smile fool you on the softball field. She’s imagining putting you into her pitching blender. The Niwot senior has thrown like an all-state pitcher through the first month of the fall season — and it’s a major reason why the Cougars can imagine big things in their near future. Second in the state in strikeouts, her swing-and-whiff stuff was on full display in a 7-0 win over Monarch on Tuesday afternoon. “I think she feels more at home here now,” Niwot coach Bobby Matthews said of his ace, who moved from Arizona to Niwot last year.