The Panthers were dealing on Monday.
After Saturday’s contests were snowed out, the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers (3-5) swept the Dove Creek Bulldogs (1-5) in a rescheduled double-header on Monday.
And they only had to use two pitchers in the process.
Jasen Engel started on the bump for M-CHS in the opener, and he struck out five and held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first two innings.
The Panthers scored one in the first and then used an eight-run second inning to snag a 9-0 advantage entering the third. And although hits by Ian Roberson and Cole Herrman drove in runs for M-CHS, the Panthers did most of their damage playing small-ball.
Herrman and Cordell Baer walked to get runners on base to start the inning, and then Cutter Mathews reached on a throwing error after a bunt, scoring Herrman and moving Baer to third. In the next at-bat, Cordell Ridings bunted again and reached safely, driving Baer home.
Jasen Engel moved runners along with a fly out to left, Andrew Laymon and Coby Baer walked, and Aron Engel drove in a run after a chopper back to Bulldogs pitcher Jordan Ernst ended in a throwing error, as the Panthers embodied head coach Travis Greenlee’s philosophy on quality at-bats.
“It’s not all about batting average,” Greenlee explained. “It’s about doing your job when you come up, and that job is going to change every at-bat.
“They’re really starting to figure it out and they’re going up and having good at-bats and understanding the situation and starting to put it together to do their job,” he added.
Jordan Ernst got the Bulldogs got on the board in the top of the third inning by hitting a rope to right center for a triple, driving in Derek Kibel and Case Baughman. Beau Hemphill later doubled to centerfield to score Ernst, but they would be the only three runs Dove Creek could muster in the contest.
Leading 9-3 entering the bottom of the fourth, M-CHS went off for another seven runs to take a 16-3 lead. And after Jasen Engel held the Bulldogs scoreless in the top of the fifth, the game was called due to run-rule, with the Panthers winning, 16-3.
Engel was solid, going all five innings, striking out nine, allowing just four hits, one earned run and two walks.
“He’s pitching great,” said Greenlee. “We made him throw a few extra outs early – the first inning alone I think he had to throw five outs just because of a couple errors – so we made him throw more outs than he needed to. But he’s got good movement on the ball, he’s hitting his spots and doing his job.”
Offensively, the Panthers got contributions across the board.
Roberson was 2-4 with a run and three RBIs, Coby Baer finished 2-3 with two runs and two RBIs, Laymon went 1-2 with a run and three RBIs, Mathews drove in two and scored twice and Herrman reached safely in all three at-bats, finishing with two runs and two RBIs.
Ernst finished with two RBIs for the visiting Bulldogs, Hemphill went 1-3 with an RBI and Kibel was 1-3 with a run scored.
Ernst started for Dove Creek and went 1 1/3 with four walks, seven earned runs and nine hits while striking out two. Colin Hobbs finished the game on the mound for the Bulldogs, going 2 2/3 with seven runs, three walks and two strikeouts.
“We couldn’t get our kids to throw strikes, which was big,” said Dove Creek head coach Curtis Garver. “But we just had a week off from Spring Break and we’re trying to get it back together. I don’t know, but we struggled today. Obviously our best day wasn’t today, but we’re just going to keep moving forward.”
The second game of the double-header swung even further in the Panthers’ favor.
M-CHS got four runs in the first and second innings to lead 8-0 entering the third, and Panthers pitcher Andrew Laymon was locked in.
Laymon held the Bulldogs scoreless through three, and he struck out the side in the top of the third inning.
The Bulldogs got two runs in the fourth, but the wheels fell off in the bottom half of the inning as M-CHS piled on another 11 runs to pull away with a 20-2 victory.
Roberson went 3-4 with four runs and four RBIs for the Panthers, Aron Engel was 2-3 with three runs and four RBIs and Jasen Engel finished 4-5 with four runs scored and a run batted in.
Kyle Schultz pitched three innings for Dove Creek, allowing seven hits, and 12 runs. But only six runs were earned, as errors cost the Bulldogs. Hemphill pitched the final inning, walking two, allowing four hits and six earned.
Just as Engel did in the first game, Laymon went all five innings for M-CHS, and he struck out eight and allowed just three hits and one earned run. After the game, Greenlee explained how having pitchers go a complete game can set the rest of the team at ease.
“If we can keep the game moving and they’re having success on the mound, then that keeps everybody in the game,” he said. “There’s definitely a better flow then when we’re struggling and having to make visits and move people around. It definitely helps.”
On the other side of the coin, Garver spoke about how facing Engel and Laymon will help his team as they move forward.
“Our hitting wasn’t too bad,” he said. “They had two good pitchers out there. We can’t really simulate that in practice so it’s always good to get out here and see some better pitchers. So hopefully we’ll build on that and put it together next Thursday when we play again.”