The Montezuma-Cortez High School softball team’s final record was not pretty, but the improvements made by the team over the course of the season were substantial.
Kicking off their last week of play on Tuesday, Oct. 1 on the road against the Durango Demons, the Panthers came through with one of their finest performances of the season, dropping the hard fought contest, 7-3.
Highlighting the Panthers’ loss to Durango was the play of Abriana Conklin, who slugged a three-run home run over the left field fence in the top of the fourth inning to put her team ahead 3-2.
The Demons would battle back however, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth to key their victory.
“We played very well against Durango,” said Panthers’ head coach Brett Martin. “We had only three errors.”
In all, the Panthers recorded eight total hits against Durango, a number that represented a vast improvement over the beginning of the season when a single hit was an accomplishment.
Concluding their season against the Cedaredge Bruins on Friday, Oct. 4, the Panthers’ offense again played well, but the pitching was unable to hold as the Panthers lost 13-7.
“We had a couple of good runs with hits and running the bases,” said Martin. “We couldn’t get over the defensive errors, though.”
Although the Panthers finished their season with a record of 2-17, the team’s improvement left Martin encouraged about the future.
“It has been a good season for development,” said Martin. “I expect great things happening in the next two years. The thing that I’m looking for now is consistency.”