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Mar. 27, 2001
BY JIM THOMAS They have already doubled their win output from a year ago. Dolores High School’s varsity baseball team won only two games a year ago. But what a difference a year makes. The Bears improved to 4-2 on the young season with an easy 10-4 victory over Montezuma-Cortez JVs on Friday afternoon, March 23, at Parque de Vida Ball Park. "We’re coming along," Dolores head coach Jim Everin said following the game. "We’re just about where I’d hope we would be going into spring break." It was their second win over the Panthers this season, having beaten them 11-2 in the first game of the Cortez JV Baseball Tournament, March 16-17. The visiting Bears struck first in the top of the first inning. After a hit, a walk and an error, the bases were loaded. Kevin Fane, who singled to open the game, scored on a wild pitched. The Panthers were able to get out of the inning without any more damage. The Panthers responded in the bottom of the frame by scoring a run to tie the game at 1-1. Preston Cornett, who also started on the mound, helped himself out by drilling a single, knocking in a run. The Bears then got out of the jam. Dolores came right back, though, with three runs in the top of the second inning. Anthony Mestas, who had reached first on a single, scored a few minutes later on an error. Fane and Nick Martin both knocked in runs with singles. Both teams scored in the third. Dolores pushed one run across while MCHS added two. For the Bears, Brady Blackmer slapped a single up the middle. He stole second and then scored on a single by Creed Williford. The Panthers scored two unearned runs when Randon Mathews scored from third on the old double-steal play. Another run came across the plate on a grounder. The Bears held a 5-3 lead at the end of three complete innings. Dolores gave itself some breathing room with two in the top of the fourth. A sacrifice fly by Cullen Zion and another by Blackmer accounted for the runs. The Bears put the game out of reach with three in the top of the fifth to go ahead 10-3. Casey Garvin opened the stanza with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly. Cornett looked tired at that point and was relieved. Martin slapped an RBI double and another run scored on a mistake. The Panthers scored its last run in the bottom of the inning when Mathews doubled and later came home on a ground out. Cortez threatened in the sixth by getting a runner to second but left him there. "Cornett kept us off-balance. He had a pretty good little fast ball. He got tired in the end and started getting the ball up. As a result, I thought our hitting was rather erratic today. At times we didn’t hit the ball when we had guys on base (stranded seven). "I was pleased with our defense. We had good coverages. We made good throws and hit our cutoffs. We are still making some mental mistakes, but that’s just because we have not had enough time out on the field," Everin added. Zion started and went the distance on the mound. He fanned seven and held MCHS to five hits in picking up the win. Cornett was tagged with the loss. He struck out our batters in four and one-third innings of work before being taken out. The Bears will not play again until April 3 when they host Ignacio, a team they outlasted 15-13 in the second game of the Cortez JV Tournament. "We just get started and then we have to take off for Spring Break. I’ve tried to play games over that week before, but couldn’t get enough players. We will try to hold practice Friday and Saturday. In some ways it will be just like starting over again," he remarked. Dolores County will compete this Thursday-Saturday, March 29-31, at the annual Shiprock (N.M.) Invitational Baseball Tournament at SHS. Montezuma-Cortez, also idle through this week, will not return to the diamond until the host Durango on April 3 in the first Southwest League game of the season. |
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez Journal.
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