Panthers upset 5-A top-ranked GJ Central; Bulldogs advance

Panthers upset 5-A top-ranked GJ Central; Bulldogs advance

May 1, 2001

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Both Montezuma-Cortez and Dolores County high school varsity baseball teams both had something to talk about following their games Saturday, April 28, at Englehart and Parque de Vida felds, respectively.

Certainly, the 3-11 Panthers’ 9-8 win over Class 5A top-ranked Central of Grand Junction during the final regular-season Southwest League game was something to talk about. Dove Creek won the game it had to win in the first game of the day with a 12-1 win over top-seeded Grand Valley at the Class 2A Division I Baseball Tournament. But the Bulldogs were clobbered 19-1 by top-ranked Nucla in the game for seeding into this week’s District Tournament at Gunnison.

"This has got to be the best 3-11 team I’ve ever been associated with," MCHS first-year head coach Chuck Cotter said following the big win. "They came out and finally found a way to win. We have been in so many games this season and come up short, but this time they won. This is just a great momentum builder going into districts."

The game had all the drama of which movies are made. Panther relief pitcher freshman Preston Cornett had to face the no. 2-4 batters with the bases loaded and only one out in the top of the seventh inning. Cornett hit Micah Dawson, who earlier belted a two-run homer, to force in a run. He then struck out no. 3 batter Mike Johnson on a called third strike. With the count full to cleanup batter Jared Burek, Cornett delivered a fast ball that caught the corner of the plate and Burek who was caught looking.

Cotter had gone out to the mound just after he had hit Dawson, who seemed not to even try to get out of the way of the pitch.

"What I told him was, ‘Are you ready to get the job done?’ He’s a fighter and a competitor. That was a lot of pressure and he came through," Cotter added.

The Panthers jumped all over the Warriors in the bottom of the first inning by scoring five times. Kris Nittler belted a home run during the inning.

Central scored a run in the top of the second when a runner scored from third off a sacrifice fly. Cortez came back in the bottom of the third when Josh Knapp singled and later scored off a single by Tony McComb.

But the Warriors could not be held completely at bay. They came up with four runs in the top of the fourth. Bo Stohler had a two-run double in the frame. The Panther scored three times in the fifth. McComb cracked a two-run double. That put the Panthers up 9-5. Central came back, though, and pulled within two runs going into the top of the seventh at 9-7 when the fireworks started.

Patrick Reed started and picked up the win. Cornett got credited for a save.

Playing in their final home game were seniors Matt Betts, McComb, Chris Dibsie, Nittler, Reed, Knapp and Steve Percell. Cotter credited the win to the leadership of the seniors in that game.

The Panthers lost a heartbreaker on Friday evening, April 27, to Montrose in a game which would have decided placing in the Class 4A District Tournament this weekend. The Panthers will be the fifth seed after falling 7-5 in eight innings at Englehart Field. The Indians will be the second seed from the SWL.

Montrose led 5-0 at the end of three complete innings. The Panthers came back with two runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth. Cornett and Travis Spruell had RBI singles in the fourth. Betts and Knapp both hit singles and both later scored on a big error. Kevin Wayman singled in the tying run in the sixth.

Neither team could score in the seventh. In the top of the eighth, the Indians scored two runs on the oldest play in the book, a double-steal with runners at the corners. An overthrown ball on a pickoff at second, accounted for both runners to score. The Panthers threatened in the bottom of the eighth when Nittler tried to stretch a single into a double but was thrown out.

The Bulldogs, going into Divisionals as the no. 2 seed from the San Juan Basin League, had no problems defeating top-seeded Grand Valley in the all-important first game. DCHS head coach Ken Soper wasn’t sure which team was going to show up, the one that plays defense well and hits well or the one that doesn’t play defense well and does not hit well.

DCHS set the tone by going up 1-0 in the top of the first inning when Chris Kail rapped a single and scored from second off a double by Kyle Krafka. They pushed two more runs over the plate in the second when Trent Daves and Dallas Daves scored on wild pitches. They led 4-0 when Terence Gardner scored on a fielder’s choice. The Bulldogs pushed five runs over the plate in the fourth to put the game away. Keith Pierce belted a two-run double and two other runs scored on a miscue. Their finals runs came in the fifth with runs being scored on errors. The Cardinals went down quietly in the bottom of the fifth.

Dallas Coker went the distance on the mound and picked up the win.

"I really wasn’t sure which team was going to show up. We didn’t hit the ball particularly well that game but we did play very good defense and our pitching was on," Soper remarked.

But the "other" team showed up the next game against Nucla.

"I don’t know what it is about Nucla (the Mustangs have won all the meetings this season) this year. It must be some kind of mental block. We just seem to give up and not play well," he commented.

The Mustangs scored seven times in the first inning, all runs unearned thanks to four errors. And they scored nine times in the second, thanks again to four more errors. They pushed three runs over the plate in the bottom of the third. Dove Creek’s lone run came in the bottom of the third.

"I thought this was by far our worst game of the season. You would think they would have been relaxed because the pressure was off. We play well one game and not well in the next," he added.

Chris Robuck went two-for-four with a single and a double and teammate Josh Hainey rapped three singles for Nucla. Jason Mock went the distance and got the win while Dallas Daves, who only threw an inning, took the loss.

In the key opening game of the tournament, Nucla pounded hapless DeBeque 28-2 in five innings.