In each of their past two games, Windsor’s Jenna McGinnis dominated a pair of prolific offenses to maintain the state’s best ERA. Elizabeth’s Aurelia Espinoza tossed consecutive shutouts. And Palmer Ridge’s Corinna Arellano slugged four home runs.

Yep, the chase for the top seed in the Class 4A is heating up between Windsor, Elizabeth and Palmer Ridge. And their stars … well, they’re cooking.

McGinnis (0.40 ERA) outdueled Stanford-commit Emmaline Humphreys in a win over 4A No. 4 Holy Family, then tamed an offense averaging more than 10 runs per game in a win over 5A No. 7 Fort Collins.

The Wizards (13-1) took over the top spot in 4A over the past few days. Last weekend, they won the Dave Sanders tournament, which included a nine-inning win over 5A No. 2 Columbine and a final victory over the Tigers.

Meanwhile, 4A No. 2 Elizabeth (11-2) beat No. 3 Palmer Ridge, 3A No. 1 Eaton and No. 2 University at the Northern Colorado tournament last weekend.

The Cardinals, winners of seven in a row, have been led by the dynamic pitching duo of Espinoza (2.10 ERA in 43 1/3 IP) and Faith Carlson (1.60 in 30 2/3).

Palmer Ridge (9-2), at No. 3 in the meantime, bounced back from losses to Elizabeth and Eaton at the NoCo tourney with a comeback win over three-time defending 4A champ Lutheran on Wednesday.

Erasing a 7-0 deficit, Arellano hit a grand slam in a four-run fifth inning (her second homer of the day), then had a game-tying single as part of a five-run sixth that helped propel the Bears to their first win over Lutheran since the Lions moved up to 4A in 2022.

Now, let’s take a look at a game from each classification to watch this week.

Class 5A

No. 3 Arvada West at No. 10 Lakewood; Monday at 4:30 p.m.

AW (10-1) and its star pitcher, Morgan Farr, returned to form after a blowout loss to No. 2 Columbine on Tuesday, beating Ralston Valley on Thursday.

On Monday, the Wildcats travel to face the Tigers (9-3), who took over the top spot in 5A momentarily a week ago.

Since then, Lakewood has lost one-run games to 5A No. 11 Fruita Monument, 4A No. 9 Pueblo Central and No. 15 Golden.

Addison Gallegos had a home run in five straight games earlier in the season for the Tigers but is without one in her last six games.

Class 4A

No. 3 Palmer Ridge at No. 9 Pueblo Central; Saturday at 1 p.m.

Frankly, Arellano’s stat line over her past two games seems made up.

She’s 6-for-8 with four home runs and 13 RBIs.

Arellano has now gone deep seven times this fall, tying her for the state lead alongside Fairview’s Julia Savage and Columbine’s Nina Vargas.

Pueblo Central (9-3-1), however, has been good against highly-ranked teams all season long. Over the last week alone they beat 5A No. 2 Columbine, No. 10 Lakewood and No. 11 Fruita Monument.

Class 3A

No. 5 Brush at No. 2 University; Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Expect lots of scoring in this top-five matchup.

University (11-2) has double-digit runs in 10 of 13 games this season, Natalie Galindo had her third four-RBI game of the season in a 16-1 win over Valley on Tuesday.

Brush (8-2), on the other hand, has scored in double figures in seven of 10 games. Freshman Izabella Talmich has two RBIs in each of her last four games.