Thanks to impressive pitching and timely hitting, the Montezuma-Cortez High School baseball team has already won more games this season than it did all of last year.
The Panthers latest victories came at the Piedra Vista Tournament in Farmington, March 20-21, when M-CHS won two of its three games.
Opening the tournament against Kirtland Central High School on March 20, the Panthers received another solid pitching effort from senior Konnar McGee and won 6-1.
McGee allowed just one earned run and three hits in six innings and went 2-3 at the plate with two RBIs.
“In that game, we didn’t have any big hits, but we just did things right,” M-CHS manager Travis Greenlee said.
Plyaing its second game of the tournament against Taos later on March 20, M-CHS scored 11 runs in the first inning and won 14-3 after five innings of play. McGee was again solid at the plate, hitting a double and a home run in the first inning alone.
Junior Andrew Laymon enjoyed success on the mound, allowing just one earned in four innings before being relieved by senior Tristan Shelby, who pitched a perfect fifth.
Playing its final game of the tournament against Aztec on March 21, M-CHS received a solid effort from starting pitcher Dayne Black, but lost 4-2.
Black pitched six innings, allowed no earned runs and registered seven strikeouts. The senior also hit his first home run of the season in the fourth inning.
“Dayne pitched great and he had a home run,” said Greenlee. “We just had too many defensive errors and we didn’t’ make any adjustments at the plate. We let one get away that we didn’t want to.”
With their record now at 6-2 on the season, M-CHS will not play again for two weeks before facing off against Grand Junction Central on the road on April 3.
“We’ve had a good preseason,” said Greenlee. “Now we have two weeks to get ready for league games.”