LITTLETON — Columbine sophomore Shalee Trujillo delivered the walk-off RBI single to give the Rebels a dramatic home victory in a Class 5A Jeffco League opener Tuesday.

“Things just weren’t going well for us at all,” Columbine coach Jim Santaniello said of the Rebels falling behind 4-0 early. “For us to pull it off really shows the heart and character of our team.”

The Rebels (10-2, 1-0 in 5A Jeffco) had trailed the entire game against rival Arvada West (6-5, 0-1). The Wildcats led 5-4 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.

However, a 2-out RBI single by sophomore Charlee Abelein tied things up 5-5. Trujillo’s hard-hit single through the left side of the infield scored senior Katie Forbes for the victory in walk-off fashion.

“It was huge for us,” Forbes said of the conference opening win. “Arvada West has always been a really big rival. Coming in we had no expectations. We just wanted to play 10-out-of-10 and try to do our best. Getting this win in a clutch game like this was really exciting.”

Forbes was the only offensive producer for Columbine until the bottom of the seventh inning. The senior crushed 2-run home runs in the fourth and six innings to keep the Rebels within striking distance.

A-West wasn’t going to give Forbes a shot for a third 2-run home run and win the game in the seventh inning. Forbes came up to the plate with two outs and junior Nina Vargas on base after a single. The Wildcats intentionally walked Forbes to put the tying run in scoring position in Vargas and the potential winning run at first base in Forbes.

“It crossed my mind,” Forbes said of getting intentionally walked. “I didn’t think they would do it because it allowed two runners on base.”

Abelein — 0-for-3 from the plate before her game-tying single — and Trujillo made A-West pay.

“I just knew I had to produce for my team,” Trujillo said of the game-winning single. “I had to produce for the team, not just myself. I just had a good mindset.”

The victory helped erase a substitution infraction by Columbine in the top of the fifth inning that cost the Rebels a run. Trujillo replaced starting junior pitching Ivy Ryan to start the inning, but the home plate umpire was told Trujillo’s jersey number was 18. Trujillo’s number is actually 11.

Trujillo retired the first batter she face, but after getting A-West junior Vivyanna Dycus to groundout, A-West coaches pointed out Trujillo’s number was actually 11. After a lengthy decision, Dycus was allowed to bat again. She would eventually single and score on an RBI single by sophomore Payton Weaver to extend A-West’s lead to 5-2.

“I’m going book-to-book from now on,” Santaniello said about communicating number changes to the other team after the Rebels were penalized for an illegal substitution. “You never want anything to be decided by anybody else but the players. I’m glad everything worked out. It was just a miscommunication.”

It was the first go-around between two of the perennial state qualifiers and 5A Jeffco League contenders. A-West will host Columbine in another league match-up Sept. 28.

“I think it great honestly,” Forbes said of the new league format with playing 5A Jeffco foes twice in the 7-team league. “It gives us more chances to preform (in league). In previous years if you lost one game in league that was pretty much it.”

Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools