It was a long day for the Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity baseball team on Tuesday, April 18, in Southwestern League action. The Panthers lost 11-1 to Palisade in a makeup game that was washed out from last weekend. They traveled to Montrose and lost 9-0.

Dolores County split a doubleheader that was hastily moved from Dove Creek to Parque de Vida in Cortez. They slaughtered Nucla 28-14 in the opener and then lost 12-11 in the nightcap in San Juan League play.

Dolores was defeated 28-6 in a nonleague game which was recently picked up at Shiprock, N.M. The Bears were coming off a doubleheader loss to the Mustangs, 11-1 and 20-1 on April 15 at Nucla.

They played a makeup game against Palisade that was rained out from last weekend and then traveled to Montrose and played the Indians in a regularly scheduled contest.

It could not have come at a better time for the Palisade High School baseball team.

The Bulldogs scored 11 runs on 14 hits, including four home runs, while Clint Ostermiller threw a two-hitter as Palisade defeated Montezuma-Cortez 11-1 in five innings at Suplizio Field. Ostermiller put up a few zeros in the Cortez column. He struck out seven and only allowed four base runners. Catcher Jerad Schminke threw out one of those runners trying to steal second base in the third inning. The pitcher's only blemish came in the third when Randon Cornett walked and scored on Matt Ruggles' two-out double. Ostermiller struck out the side in the fifth inning and recorded seven consecutive outs.

Palisade broke the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the third with a three-run homer by Ostermiller. Brock Boyack led off with a double and with one out, Schminke singled. Ostermiller didn't need the wind to blast the go-ahead homer, though.

The Bulldogs took advantage of the swirling wind with solo home runs by Daniel Miller in the fourth and back-to-back shots by Boyack and Jeremy Strain in the fifth.

"I knew we were going to play poorly because we did not practice well the day before," MCHS head coach Jeff Bollinger remarked. "We had no intensity in that game what so ever. They decided just not to play. Our pitchers did not throw well and we gave up four home runs."

The Panthers then took on Montrose and struggled some more.

"Again, we did not come to play and they weren’t too upset about it. They acted like they didn’t want the game. I don’t understand that. I thought things were going to be better because we had good batting practice. We just played terrible again. We went through three pitchers. Evan Frost did throw three scoreless innings," Bollinger said.

The Panthers did beat Fruita-Monument 8-7 on April 14 in SWL play. In that game the Panthers went up 6-2 in the fifth inning. The Wildcats, with two outs, rallied and went up 7-6. In the top of the seventh, Shane Chadwick comes up with a pinch-hit double which scored a run. With the bases loaded, Bryce Tanner drew four straight balls and walked in the winning run.

Josh Cornett came in and pitched the final inning, retiring three straight batters. He picked up a cheap win on the mound. Starter Ryan Loyd threw well and Caleb Coate also pitched well in relief.

Josh Knapp cracked a three-run homer in the third inning. The Panthers had 10 hits on the day.

The Panthers host Durango at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 21, at Parque de Vida.

Dolores County pounded Nucla for 20 hits and 27 runs in the first two innings of the first game.

"I have never seen a hitting barrage like we did in the first innings of a baseball. I mean they were good hits. We had lots of line drive doubles and triples. I have never been so pleased," DCH head coach Ken Soper commented.

But from that point on the Bulldogs got complacent. They committed several errors, pitchers walked and hit batters. Nucla scored seven runs across the plate in the fourth and it scored four more in the fifth.

Terence Gardner went the distance on the mound for Dove Creek in picking up the win. He worked four innings, fanned seven but he also walked seven. Dallas Coker tossed an inning. Jason Mock threw a third of an inning and was tagged with the loss.

Gardner helped himself at the plate by belting a double, a triple and two singles while knocking in four runs. Justin Wyatt belted two doubles and a triple and knocked in six runs. Ron Ernst picked up five runs batted in and Keith Pierce and Chris Kail brought home three runs each. Mock went two-for-three for Nucla.

In the nightcap, Soper went from a real high to a real low. The Bulldogs were up 9-1 going into the fifth inning when Nucla scored nine times to go up 10-9. DCHS scored twice in the bottom of the inning and Nucla added two in the top of the seventh for the win. Nucla took advantage of three errors, four hits and four walks. Also both runs in the seventh scored because of passed balls.

"I’ve never been so disappointed after being so pleased a few minutes earlier. We lead 9-1 after beating a team by 14 runs in the previous game. Then Nucla comes back and beats us. Now they have the momentum in our league," Soper said.

Mock picked up the win in relief. Dallas Daves was tagged with the loss after coming in relief of Ernst.

Josh Hainey paced Nucla with three hits, including a double. Gardner led the Bulldogs by going four-for-four including a double and a triple with two RBI. Wyatt went three-for-four with four RBI.

There was good news for the Bulldogs, though. It clinched at least a co-championship with Nucla for the San Juan League title. A win over Dolores on Saturday, April 22, in one of those two games would give the Bulldogs the title outright. The Bulldogs, by taking three of four from Nucla, claim the no. 1 seed from the San Juan League into Divisionals the first weekend of May.

The Bears lost 28-6 to a much-improved Shiprock team in a game not originally on the schedule. Shiprock exploded for 14 runs in the bottom of the third and coasted from there to the win.

Dolores fell twice to Nucla on April 15. In the first game Nucla scored five runs in the bottom of the third. It scored two in the first, fifth, and sixth innings as well.

Mock picked up the win in going the distance. He struck out seven but walked seven. Cullen Zion was tagged with the loss.

Offensively for the Bears, Ruthie Martin cracked a pair of line-drive singles. Mock ripped a single, a double, and a triple and knocked home three runs.