Even though the Montezuma-Cortez High School baseball team lost to Durango, 7-4, on April 23, the Panthers put on a great show.
Trailing 3-1 entering the top of the seventh inning on Durango’s home field, M-CHS scored three consecutive runs to seize a 4-3 lead.
Eddie Martinez was hit by a pitch to open the seventh and moved to second base after a single by Randy Haley. A two-run double by Kevin Morales and a one-run double by Dayne Black scored the Panthers’ three runs.
“It was pretty exciting,” said M-CHS manager Travis Greenlee. “We got the tying run to the plate and got him in. We never panicked even when we were down.”
After Durango tied the game in the bottom of the seventh and held the Panthers scoreless in the top of the eighth, Demons’ senior Casey Dunlap hit a three-run walk-off home run off of Dayne Black with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to win.
Until the walk-off home run, Black had been stellar on the mound, tossing 3 and 2/3’s innings scoreless innings. Konnar McGee started the game on the mound for M-CHS and surrendered one earned run over four innings.
“Our pitching did a great job of keeping us in the game and giving us an opportunity,” Greenlee said. “We just ran out of time.”
Dunlap pitched 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win on the mound for Durango.
With its record now at 6-11 on the season, M-CHS will return to the practice field before closing out its season with a road game in Montrose on May 1, followed by a road match-up against Grand Junction on May 2.
“We want to put a complete game together and win,” said Greenlee, when asked about his team’s goals for its final weekend. “We want to continue with what we’ve done and end on a high note.”