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Cowgirls clip Lady Panthers, 5-4 and 11-9

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Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020 5:11 PM
Montezuma-Cortez head coach Anthony ‘Hippo’ Frost reviews batting pointers with the Lady Panthers before varsity action earlier this season at neutral Delta High School.

Suffering their fourth loss in five outings, Montezuma-Cortez softball’s 2020 campaign ended most untimely as the Lady Panthers swapped fourth and fifth place in the 3A Western Slope standings with Meeker, falling 5-4 and 11-9 and giving the Cowgirls five wins out of six Friday in Delta.Game 1, however, ended with Meeker needing, and successfully pushing two runs across – their first since a three-run breakout in the bottom of the first inning — home plate to steal victory. With two out, nonetheless.

M-CHS had tied it up with three runs in the top of the third and took the lead with one in the sixth.

Junior Taiah Wilson (L, CG; 6.2 IP, 3 BB, 4 K) went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI, while junior Hailey Veach went 1-3 with a double, run and two batted in. Bri Comisky was 1-3 with a double and an RBI, while Rylee Hickman was 1-3 with a run.

Lone senior Arianna Muniz was 0-2 with a run, but junior catalyst Allie Kibel went an uncharacteristic 0-3 with a walk and three of Montezuma-Cortez’s 10 strikeouts.

Game 2 again saw Meeker – designated as visitors – start emphatically with six quick runs. Desperately needing a triumph, Montezuma-Cortez (9-7, 6-6 WSL) fought back with a fast four.

Meeker (8-8, 7-5) promptly counterattacked with three second-inning scores, and would further increase its lead to 11-4 before the Lady Panthers regenerated some momentum with five runs ending the fourth frame.

Comisky finished 1-3 with a run and three RBIs, while Wilson was 1-3 with one RBI. Hickman was 1-3 with a run, and Koral Jackson went 1-2, was plunked by two pitches, and scored twice. Erin Brown was 1-2 with a double, walk and one RBI, but Kibel unluckily struggled again with an 0-for-3 line including two more Ks, but reached base on an error and drew a walk, helping her score twice.

Wilson walked five and fanned four in defeat.

The Panthers were coldly denied an at-large invitation to the 16-team state tournament despite ending up 16th in RPI. Meeker rose to 20th.

Representing the Western Slope instead were 10-seed Delta (12-4, 10-2 WSL), pit against 7-seed Limon (13-3) in the Round of 16, and 15-seed Cedaredge (10-6, 8-4), initially stuck with 2-seed and defending state champion Greeley University (13-3).

Though No. 12 in the final RPI calculations, Cedaredge’s inclusion was a gift. The Lady Bruins actually placed third in the league behind Basalt (9-7, 8-4), which finished 17th in RPI despite a season-ending win over 4A Gypsum Eagle Valley (2-14).

In a split of their two regular-season meetings with Cedaredge, Basalt owned an 18-17 head-to-head run differential, while Montezuma-Cortez held much greater sway in halving a pair, posting a plus-8 (26-18) figure.

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