Taking the field at the Rumble in the Jungle tournament on March 16-17, the Montezuma-Cortez High School baseball team faced tough opponents from Cedaredge and Montrose and dropped two consecutive games.
Manager Tim Passell was encouraged by aspects of his team’s play, however, and emphasized that although the Panthers still have work to do, the potential for a successful season is alive and well.
“We’ve got stuff that we need to clean up, and that’s why we bring these good teams in early,” Passell said. “Every one of the teams that we brought in here, we brought in here to push us. We don’t have any games next week, and our focus is going to be on fixing the holes we saw this weekend.”
Opening the tournament against Cedaredge on March 16, M-CHS stayed close for six innings before yielding eight runs in the seventh frame and losing 15-7. The Panthers fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning before scoring two runs of their own to cut the score to 3-2.
After Cedaredge extended its lead to 6-2 entering the bottom of the third inning, an offensive flurry by the Panthers tied the game at 6-6 entering the fourth inning. The game was tied 7-7 entering the seventh inning before Cedaredge’s offensive surge sealed M-CHS’ fate.
“We played well,” said senior Jasen Engel. “We got down by a couple of runs a couple of times, but we kept battling back.
Offensive leaders for M-CHS included Andrew Medina, who registered one hit and two RBIs, and Cordell Baer, who drove in two runs with a resounding double. Kale Hall also enjoyed a solid day at the plate as the junior belted a two-run double in his lone plate appearance.
“Kale was awesome coming off the bench in a pinch-hitting role,” Passell said. “Both games, he did exactly what we needed. He hit the ball hard and scored runs for us.”
Jasen Engel pitched three innings against Cedaredge and allowed six earned runs. Cutter Matthews allowed three earned runs over three and two-thirds innings and struck out eight batters. Ryan Medina pitched one inning and allowed no earned runs.
Following its game against Cedaredge, M-CHS returned to its home field on March 17 and lost 15-2 in five innings to eventuali tournament winner Montrose.
The contest was competitive early on and was tied 2-2 at the end of the first inning after Andrew Medina belted a line-drive single to left field to score Isiah Pena and tie the game in the opening frame.
Montrose seized control over the next innings, however, as starting pitcher Bridger Davis did not allow another run while striking out seven M-CHS batters.
Panthers’ junior Cole Herrman relieved starter Ryan Medina to begin the third inning and allowed seven total runs before registering the final out of the frame. Sophomore Preston Davidovich made his varsity debut and pitched one and two-thirds of an inning, and freshman Korie Likes made his varsity debut and threw one-third of an inning.
“I wanted to see Cole (Herrman) out there since he pitched for us in senior league over the summer and he did well,” Passell said. “(Montrose) timed him up, they’re a good hitting team. After (Cole) left, we wanted to switch it up and get some of our younger kids out there and get their feet wet.”
Now 1-2 on the season, M-CHS will return to practice in anticipation of its league opening doubleheader against Monte Vista on March 31.
“It’s still preseason, so as much as we want to win these games, it’s still a learning experience,” said Cordell Baer. “We need to clean up our mental errors, and we’ve just got to learn.”
