{"id":21640,"date":"2025-06-26T15:38:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T21:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mcdonald-spreads-his-wings-heading-into-senior-year-at-montezuma-cortez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:08:15","slug":"mcdonald-spreads-his-wings-heading-into-senior-year-at-montezuma-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mcdonald-spreads-his-wings-heading-into-senior-year-at-montezuma-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"McDonald spreads his wings heading into senior year at Montezuma-Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Junior
Junior Jaris McDonald delivers a pitch in Game 2 against Eaton, helping lead the Panthers to a 9-5 victory on Saturday, May 24. Courtesy of Ginny McDonald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

From the moment Jaris McDonald first stepped onto the field as a Panther, he was determined to make a meaningful impact on the Montezuma-Cortez High School baseball team.<\/p>\n

This season, McDonald did exactly that. Playing at first base and on the mound, he joined forces with a close-knit group of teammates he\u2019s grown up with to help lead the Panthers through a record-breaking year to earn the most wins in a single season and making their deepest run yet in the 2025 state tournament.<\/p>\n

Montezuma-Cortez began posting at least a .500 record since his freshman year, and McDonald said he feels confident that the team has more for them in his upcoming senior year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us have played together since we were 7-8 years old, so our team chemistry has gotten bigger and better over the years. We\u2019re at the highest point we can be right now, and it\u2019ll only go up from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Junior
Junior Jaris McDonald successfully tagged out a Resurrection Christian player at first base during Day 1 of the state baseball tournament on Friday, May 23, 2025. (Courtesy of Ginny McDonald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

McDonald was one of only two left-handed pitchers on the team last season, alongside now-graduated Seth Oakes from Mancos. Heading into next year, he\u2019s expected to be the Panthers\u2019 lone lefty on the mound.<\/p>\n

His left-handed delivery gives him a unique edge, offering hitters a different look and giving the team more strategic flexibility.<\/p>\n

During the Panthers\u2019 state tournament run, McDonald said he hoped for a shot at Eaton who were the reigning 3A champions in 2022, 2023, and 2024. That opportunity finally came in his most recent season with the Panthers. Backed by a strong defense and his dependable arm, McDonald helped shut down the opposing offense.<\/p>\n

Their matchup against Eaton came on the heels of a win over Valley earlier that day. McDonald turned in a strong showing on the mound, pitching five innings with a 2.80 ERA. He held Eaton\u2019s struggling offense to just three hits and four runs while striking out six, playing a crucial role in containing their lineup.<\/p>\n

McDonald said he anticipated any challenges Eaton could potentially present him with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a very good hitting team and they\u2019re also good defensively,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my pitching, I knew what I had to do to beat them and know my offense was going to perform better than theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald said he credits his success to breaking down film and occasionally reviewing stats with his father \u2013 habits he\u2019s adopted to gain a strategic advantage over opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore games, I do a lot of research. I look at MaxPreps and Game Changer and all sorts of videos I can find to see if I can find weaknesses in their game. I just have to believe I can perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victory over Eaton is a special moment McDonald said he and his teammates were never going to forget.<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s journey to success was not easy. He described last year\u2019s regional tournament loss with Coal Ridge as the toughest moment of his prep baseball career. But rather than dampen the team\u2019s spirits, he said the setback only strengthened their determination to improve and come back stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it made us all realize that we lost a bunch of seniors the year before and to get where we want to be, we\u2019re going to have to work for it,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cI think we had done just that this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald also finds steady encouragement from those closest to him. He said his parents, sister, and longtime teammate Cory Carver have been his biggest supporters throughout his years on the diamond.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth of my parents and my sister have been there for me 110%. My shortstop, Cory Carver, has been there too and we\u2019ve done a lot of stuff together.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to baseball, McDonald is also a member of the basketball team and enjoys analyzing stats across different sports. Still, he said nothing compares to his love for baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve loved baseball since I could walk. It\u2019s such a hard game to understand, but when you understand it and become good at it, it\u2019s just hard to pull away from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he reflects on the season and looks ahead, McDonald said he\u2019s filled with pride and gratitude for both his progress in the game and the support he\u2019s felt from his community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means the world to me. It\u2019s all I dreamed about as a kid was being able to success at a sport I love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pitcher reflects on journey after record-breaking season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,36,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-21640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77395,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21640\/revisions\/77395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21640"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=21640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}