{"id":31666,"date":"2023-09-17T22:29:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T04:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/m-chs-softball-overpowers-durango-sweeps-series\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:44:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:44:32","slug":"m-chs-softball-overpowers-durango-sweeps-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/m-chs-softball-overpowers-durango-sweeps-series\/","title":{"rendered":"M-CHS softball overpowers Durango, sweeps series"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez pitcher Devyn Cornett winds up and delivers a pitch on Tuesday while playing Durango. Cornett pitched a complete and also had five RBIs in the win. (Cody Olivas\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

CORTEZ \u2013 There won\u2019t be any split decision this year: Montezuma-Cortez will take the title belt from rival Durango by unanimous decision.<\/p>\n

The Panthers took down the Demons for the second time this season, earning a 7-3 win at Parque de Vida on Sept. 10 to deny Durango\u2019s bid to split their annual home-and-home series for a fourth consecutive year.<\/p>\n

M-CHS (7-6, 2-3 3A WSL) rallied from an early 3-0 deficit, taking the lead for good on an RBI groundout from senior Trenity Tillahash, scoring junior Abigail Coffey in the bottom of the second to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead. From there, solid pitching and defense helped the Panthers shut down Durango to push M-CHS back above .500.<\/p>\n

Junior Kenzie Whipple enjoyed a banner day for the Panthers, clobbering her first career home run with a two-run shot in the fifth inning to give the Panthers some breathing room, up 6-3. Classmate Emily Carver would reach base before the courtesy runner would score the final run of the game an inning later, driven in on a double from freshman Reagan Veach.<\/p>\n

\u201cKenzie\u2019s become a really consistent hitter for us,\u201d said M-CHS head coach Anthony \u201cHippo\u201d Frost. \u201cShe\u2019s been taking a better approach at the plate each game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whipple, Tillahash, Carver and Veach all posted multi-hit days, part of an 11-hit output for the Panthers offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt great to help my team out,\u201d said Whipple of her two-run blast, \u201cthere was a lot of adrenaline going through my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things started brightly for Durango (2-10, 1-3 5A\/4A SWL), when sophomore Cori Davis capitalized on a couple of early base runners, blasting a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to give the visitors the lead.<\/p>\n

From there, junior pitcher Devyn Cornett was lights-out. The right-hander allowed only two hits over the remainder of the ballgame, facing just three Demons over the minimum through the final six innings. Cornett fanned eight Demons while walking just one to pick up the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur junior class has really stepped up as leaders,\u201d commended Frost, \u201cand they\u2019ve really proven they\u2019re committed to the program and to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing together since we were young,\u201d added Whipple of the large contingent of Class of 2025 on the Panthers roster. \u201cWe\u2019re all great friends \u2013 and we all think alike, which helps us when it comes to leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demons senior Kelly Arthur battled the tough M-CHS lineup for 4\u2153 innings, before sophomore Jenna Glueck closed out the final 1\u2154 innings. The duo accounted for five strikeouts and allowed just one walk in the losing effort.<\/p>\n

The Panthers posted a 2-2 record in the previous weekend\u2019s action at Berthoud, facing 4A and 5A competition with wins over Fountain Fort Carson and Poudre.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing up there (Berthoud) and seeing a different style of play helped up us with motivation,\u201d added Frost, \u201cand we hope that those results will help us keep winning games as we get back to our big league games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe adjusted well to the faster games \u2013 faster pitching especially \u2013 at Berthoud,\u201d said Whipple, \u201cbut with the different speed of the game, it made us work together a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n

M-CHS hits a pivotal two week stretch ahead, with league contests against Meeker on Sept. 23, Delta on Oct. 3 and Basalt on Oct. 5. The Panthers sit in the middle of a logjam in the 3A Western Slope, hoping that a strong finish can propel them into another postseason run.<\/p>\n

The Demons also prepare for life on the road in the coming weeks, traveling to Basalt on Sept. 23 before taking on Palisade the following Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panthers climb above .500, prepare for big league games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-31666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31666","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=31666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81520,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31666\/revisions\/81520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31666"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=31666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}