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Steamboat Springs — The competition just keeps getting tougher for the Steamboat Springs High School girls tennis team.

A week after finishing third in the highly competitive Western Slope Tournament, Steamboat plays at Evergreen today then meets Class 5A contender Boulder at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at The Tennis Center at Steamboat Springs.

Boulder, who returns 10 of its 11 players from last year's squad, battles for one of the top spots at state nearly every year.

"They're solid from No. 1 singles to four doubles," Steamboat coach John Aragon said. "But that's what makes it great for us. There are no easy matches."

After the weekend of competition, Steamboat travels to Ralston Valley on April 10 before competing in the Mullen Tournament - probably the deepest tournament outside of the state tournament - on April 11 and 12.

Baseball

There might be a running problem for the Steamboat Springs High School baseball team when the team plays at 11 a.m. Saturday in Palisade.

Considering how lethal the Bulldogs can be on the base paths, Sailors manager Dave Roy said controlling the running game could be the difference in winning and losing.

"They got good skills and they can run," Roy said. "They present some problems for us defensively once they get on base."

Sophomore Dustin Siegel or freshman Brandon Clark is expected to get the start behind the plate in game one for Steamboat. Sophomore Cody Harris will play catcher in the second game.

Junior Alex Wood will get the ball in the first game. The big southpaw is coming off a complete game five-hitter in a 3-1 loss against Delta last weekend.

"I always look forward to his outings," Roy said of Wood. "He brings a lot to the table from a pitching standpoint and from his baseball acumen. He just does the right thing at the right time."

Sophomores Alex Estes and Cody Miles will pitch the second game.

Palisade is led by the strong pitching of Jesse Brannon, Hank Stewart and Jesse Kirstatter. Brannon threw a one-hitter and Stewart threw a no-hitter last weekend in a doubleheader with Battle Mountain.

Girls soccer

The Steamboat Springs High School girls soccer team travels to Eagle Valley for an 11 a.m. game Saturday.

The Sailors (5-1-1) are in second place in the Western Slope League, having won three straight and four of their last five.

The latest victory - a 4-2 triumph against Rifle - saw Steamboat put together two completely different halves.

Steamboat took a 4-1 lead into halftime before sputtering a little in the second half.

"We hope this is not a trend for us," Steamboat coach Rob Bohlmann said after the Rifle game. "We have to pull away from this as a learning lesson and be more demanding of ourselves."

Track and field

The Steamboat and Hayden track and field teams will compete at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Eagle Valley Invitational.

The tournament traditionally brings numerous teams from the Sailors' and Tigers' region. Soroco High School's team, competing in its second track meet of the year, travels to Meeker on Saturday.

Rams coach David Bruner said he's just looking to improve on times, while getting a preliminary look at several teams Soroco will see at the regional meet.

"We're tired of running on the pavement," said Bruner, whose team has been on a track just once this year. "We're still doing workouts and getting into shape. We want to bring our times down every week."