Entering his second year as Montezuma-Cortez head softball coach, Angelo Topaha hopes to see his team tally more wins this year in a new league.
Last year, the Lady Panthers were 0-10 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League and finished the season with a 2-14 record.
But this season, M-CHS will play in the 3A Western Slope League with Aspen, Basalt, Cedaredge, Delta, Gunnison and Meeker.
The Panthers got a glimpse of Cedaredge and Delta last year in non-conference play, and one of their two wins came in a 12-9 victory over Delta. Topaha said that while they may be unfamiliar with other league members, he’s excited to see how his squad stacks up.
M-CHS lost six seniors from last year’s team to graduation, so for the first two weeks of practice Topaha said he was still moving players around trying to find the right fits.
“It’s going to be pretty hard to fill the holes that the seniors left here,” he said. “We lost six seniors, pretty much all the infield and two outfielders. So there are some gaps to fill and that in itself is challenging.”
“We’re a young group,” he continued. “We’ve only got three seniors. It’s just a young squad so we’re still trying to put girls in the order that I think will be a good match for them.”
While the Lady Panthers may be young, they return three seniors in Gabby Begay, Ahnna Higgins and Halee Pell, as well junior pitcher Danika Noyes and catcher Payton Keith.
Toss in returners Hanna Molzahn, Morgan Short, Kailey Case and incoming freshmen, and Topaha says that the team’s strength will be its speed on the basepaths.
“I think that will work in our favor,” he said. “I think it’s speed that we can do a lot of damage. If we can contact balls with the bat, it will be really good to see.”
The Lady Panthers open on Saturday against Rifle, and they’ll play on the road until their first home game on September 17 against Basalt.
M-CHS plays at home on just three occasions, with double headers against Basalt and Meeker as the only two home league contests.
And although the Panthers have departed from the Southwestern League, they’ll keep the rivalry game with Durango alive with a home battle against the Demons on September 20.