Junior pitcher Josh Cornett was kicking around in kindergarten the last time the Panthers defeated Durango in varsity baseball.

Cornett held the Demons in check all afternoon at the plate, limiting them to only five scattered hits. He picked up the win on the mound as Cortez whipped Durango 13-2 in five innings at DHS.

"He threw real well for us, although he didn’t get many strike outs," Montezuma-Cortez High School head coach Jeff Bollinger said. "The defense really helped him out. They did a great job."

What set the tone defensively for the game was when the Panthers turned a 6-4-3 (shortstop to second baseman to first baseman) double play in the first inning. Shortstop Bryce Tanner backhanded the ball and made an excellent throw to Matt Ruggles who threw it to Evan Frost.

"That was only our second true double play of the season. We turned another a week ago and we’ve turned some by doubling up runners from fly balls, but that was only our second. We turned a lot more last year but that’s because we had more chances. This year our pitchers are striking out more batters," Bollinger commented.

Offensively the Panthers put the Demons on notice in the top of the first inning. They sent 13 batters to plate. They belted eight hits and scored eight runs. Tanner, Randon Cornett, Ruggles, Tony McComb, Frost, Josh Cornett and Matt Betts also cracked hits.

The Demons scored their only two runs in the bottom of the second.

Cortez responded, though, in the top of the fifth with five more runs. Tanner and Ruggles doubled and Betts singled. A hit batter and two walks also caused the Demons headaches.

The Panthers finished the game with 12 hits.

"Many of those hits came when several of our guys had two strikes on them. They came through when we needed them," Bollinger pointed out.

Cortez had faced what Bollinger called "one of the worst weeks" (last week) of his young coaching career when Cortez lost four straight by wide margins, including a 10-4 win by the Demons at Parque de Vida.

"That was just worst I had seen them play. So we practiced them for four hours on Monday and then we practiced another couple hours before the game and then played. Usually we just take BP (batting practice) before a game. I was concerned we just weren’t focused. I mean we worked them hard with a lot of diving for ground balls, working on turning double plays, lots of flies to the outfield. I guess it paid off.

"The Durango game was big. It was a big win for the program and a big win for me. The kids really wanted it. This baseball program has been pretty down for a number of years and this was a big, big win."