Playing in weather conditions that were more indicative of winter than spring, the Montezuma-Cortez High School baseball team lost to Fruita Monument and Grand Junction Central last weekend.
Final scores were only part of the Panthers story however, as the team honored several four-year players during its ‘senior day’ and remained competitive against two of the Southwest League’s best teams.
“We haven’t won as many games as we would like but we’ve been in close games and it has been fun,” said M-CHS senior Konnar McGee. “I’ve been playing baseball since I was five years old and (my teammates) are family at this point.”
Panthers shut out by Fruita Monument
Kicking off the weekend at home against Fruita Monument on April 17, M-CHS knew winning would be a tough task, yet the Panthers remained competitive throughout much of what turned out to be an 8-0 loss.
Among the high points for M-CHS was stellar pitching by McGee, who induced several ground balls and held Fruita Monument’s offense to three runs during the games first five innings.
“It was good to have my infield back me up,” said McGee, when asked about his pitching performance. “I only struck out two guys, but (my teammates) were fielding every ground ball that (Fruita Monument) hit.”
Despite McGee’s pitching and the Panthers defense however, M-CHS did not threaten to win stellar pitching by Fruita Monument’s Sam Graf, who tossed seven scoreless innings.
“We just weren’t stringing together the hard hits that we needed,” McGee said. “Everyone kind of had an off day and (Fruita Monument) has a very solid defense. They were making a lot of plays.”
Fruita Monument improved to 16-0 on the season with the win, while M-CHS dropped to 6-7 on the year with the loss.
Panthers edged by Grand Junction Central
Playing at home against Grand Junction Central on April 18, M-CHS smashed it way to an early lead, before losing, 10-6.
Among the highlights for the Panthers was a big bottom of the 1st inning, which began with walks to Kevin Morales and Raudy Castillo and an error that allowed Bridger Brenner to reach first base.
After Konnar McGee struck out with the bases loaded, Dayne Black walked to score Morales, Ian Roberson hit an infield single to score Castillo and Taryn Lanier singled to left to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead.
Grand Junction Central scored four runs off of Black in the top of the 2nd inning to pull ahead 5-4 before adding two more runs in the top of the 3rd inning to pull ahead 7-5.
Two more runs in the in the top of the 5th inning put Grand Junction Central ahead 9-5 and the M-CHS offense was never able to catch up despite several walks and hits.
“I thought that we fought hard to the end from the first pitch to the last,” said Black. “The field was completely snow packed, so the mound was pretty muddy. Staying warm in the dugout was the only way to get through it.”
M-CHS dropped to 6-8 on the season with the loss, while Grand Junction Central improved to 12-4 on the year with the win.
Next up for the Panthers will be a road game against Bayfield on April 21, followed by a road matchup against Durango on April 23.
“We want to continue to battle hard,” said Black. “We want to win some games and we will.”