The Panthers found themselves in a jam early on Monday against Bayfield.
After scoring two runs in the top of the first inning, the visiting Wolverines loaded the bases with no outs to start the second.
The Panthers had scored three runs themselves in the bottom of the first to lead 3-2, but with no outs and the sacks packed, Bayfield was poised for a big inning.
That’s when Montezuma-Cortez head coach Travis Greenlee called timeout and calmly strode to the mound.
As he approached pitcher Andrew Laymon, he motioned for the rest of the infield to join the mound meeting, where he attempted to settle his team.
“Take a deep breath, work our way out of it and get one,” Greenlee later described what he told the Panthers. “I’m just trying to calm them down and go through the situations so that we’re not thinking too much.”
“We’ve just got to make a play,” he continued. “We know that we have the ability, so we’re talking: ‘It could be a bunt situation,’ so we bring the corners in a bit. We’re just going over everything so no matter what they do we’re ready to react.”
Following the meeting of the minds on the infield, Laymon struck out Austin Bushnell and got Taed Heydinger to pop out to right field, scoring one run on the sacrifice fly.
Then, after an errant pick-off throw to first base allowed another Wolverine to plate, Laymon got Brody McGhehey to pop out to Cole Herrman at second to end the inning.
The Panthers got out of the pickle allowing just two runs, but erase the error and they could have escaped with just one run scored.
Errors hurt the Panthers again the next inning, and after loading the bases again – this time with two outs – Bayfield capitalized.
Heydinger singled to right field driving in two runs, and then after Laymon was replaced by Cutter Mathews on the mound for M-CHS, McGhehey dropped a hit into shallow center to score another.
Mathews got Phelps to pop out to end the top half of the third, but Bayfield had done its damage and led 9-3.
“They were starting to see us and we walked their eight and nine-hole hitters to put guys on so it was time to make a change,” Greenlee said. “We let them see somebody else to see if we could throw them off a little bit and Cutter did a good job getting us out of that inning.”
Bayfield scored four more runs in the fourth inning and twice in the fifth to go on to win, 15-4.
The Panthers finished with seven hits in the contest, and they scored once more in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Aron Engel drove in Coby Baer for the final run of the ball game.
“We were still battling, we were looking to extend it another inning,” Greenlee said. “We’ve got to be that team that never quits and never gives up. We’re going to go into a pretty tough stretch now against some good teams, and we’re going to have to battle.”
Aron Engel and Laymon led the Panthers with two hits apiece, and Mathews finished with two RBIs.
Laymon pitched 2 2/3 innings for the Panthers, striking out two, allowing six hits, four walks and two earned runs. Mathews pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief and allowed four hits and three earned, and Cordell Ridings closed out the final 1 2/3 innings with two strikeouts, three hits and one earned.
The Panthers (3-8, 0-2 5A/4A Southwestern League) are in Grand Junction this weekend for back-to-back games against the Tigers (6-5, 1-1 5A/4A Southwestern League).
