BROOMFIELD - Legacy’s softball coach Dawn Gaffin knows there is a target on her team’s back. It’s nothing new for her and her squad, especially after winning the past five state titles.

“We want to beat everybody,” Gaffin said. “We come out and play our game, we step it up for everybody. We have to, because we are going to get every team’s best game.”

One team that is always striving to take down the Lightning is their rival Mountain Range. That was the case on Saturday as the Mustangs got 13 hits, but still lost to Legacy 10-4.

“Every time I get out here I want to beat them,” Mountain Range’s coach Dane Craig said. “Everybody in the state wants to beat them. Every year I feel like we keep getting better and better. Every year we circle this game, every year we look forward to it. I just have to beat them once, and then this will be a rivalry.”

Early in the season it seemed like Legacy (8-1-2 overall, 3-0 Front Range League) might be vulnerable, falling to Grove (Okla.) and forcing ties with Chatfield and Broken Arrow (Okla.). But since then the Lightning have returned to form winning their next five games.

“I see the Erie tournament and all of the non-league games as preseason and a chance to see where we are at and what we can get away with,” Gaffin said. “We really shouldn’t have tied those games. I told the girls not to get down. When we start league I won’t do stupid stuff. We just had to figure out what we can and can’t do.”

That experience is paying off as the Lightning have outscored their league foes 38-8 and on Saturday they jumped on the Mustangs early, getting six runs by in the opening inning and never looking back.

Defensively, Legacy’s pitcher Haley Smith kept the Mustangs scoreless through the first two innings before Mountain Range’s pitcher Kayla Staab hit a 3-run home run over center field in the third inning.

“It felt really good,” Staab said. “I played against Haley forever and just to get one against her it felt really good. We were out to get them. The score doesn’t show it, but we felt we gave them our best shot.”

Smith returned the favor in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo shot over left field and then she shut down nine of Mountain Range’s final 12 batters to earn the win.

“I just knew that every pitch I throw the defense will have my back,” said Smith, who had five strike outs the game and also two RBIs.

Bekka Prokaski went 3 for 4 for Legacy, including two doubles and two RBIs.

The Mustangs rebounded on Tuesday to beat Horizon, 14-7. Mountain Range (9-3 overall, 2-2 FRL) scored seven runs in the top of the seventh to seal the win.

Desirae Visser went 4 for 6 and hit four RBIs for the Mustangs, she also was a home run short of hitting for the cycle.