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.