{"id":33261,"date":"2023-06-24T21:01:11","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T03:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/all-state-selections-cap-historic-baseball-season-for-montezuma-cortez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:08:00","slug":"all-state-selections-cap-historic-baseball-season-for-montezuma-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/all-state-selections-cap-historic-baseball-season-for-montezuma-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"All-state selections cap historic baseball season for Montezuma-Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Miles
Miles Frost pitches in a contest against Pagosa Springs. (Courtesy Jerry Cohoe)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Panthers earns postseason honors after state tournament appearance<\/div>\n

The 2023 spring season offered the Montezuma-Cortez baseball team plenty excuses to fall short of their potential. Head coach Tim Passell\u2019s squad chose to not accept any of them.<\/p>\n

Instead, the Panthers excelled on the field, making the program\u2019s first 3A state tournament appearance, and are now earning their recognition off it.<\/p>\n

Three Panthers earned all-state selections, led by a pair of First Team honorees \u2013 senior Evan LaMunyon and junior Miles Frost. Freshman Cory Carver picked up an honorable mention recognition as well for M-CHS.<\/p>\n

The all-state selections follow up a haul of six Panthers earning All-Intermountain League honors from their league championship season, joining their head coach on the league\u2019s honor roll. Frost landed the IML Player of the Year honor for his work on the mound and at the plate, joining LaMunyon, and fellow seniors Jake Blackmer, and Braden Hallman, along with Carver and classmate Darren Daves on the list of postseason honorees.<\/p>\n

\"Evan
Evan LaMunyon takes a full cut at the plate in a game against Pagosa Springs in April. (Courtesy Jerry Cohoe)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEvan has been on this trajectory his whole baseball life,\u201d said Passell of LaMunyon. \u201cThe amount of work he puts in the offseason is admirable, and has left a legacy for the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The senior pitcher and infielder led the team in RBIs at the plate and matched a school record with nine wins on the mound, while joining Carver for a middle infield combination that would rank among the best in the state in fielding percentage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact Cory made was a blast to watch,\u201d said Passell of Carver\u2019s dynamic bat at the top of the Panther order. \u201cHe\u2019s been a difference maker since Day One.\u201d Carver led the team in hits (51), runs scored (58), stolen bases (36) and doubles (16), setting new single-season school records in each category.<\/p>\n

Frost became a dominant force on the mound for the Panthers, posting new program-best marks of a 0.66 ERA and 92 strikeouts, while securing an 8-1 record. \u201cMiles was amazing this year, whether as a starter or closer,\u201d said Passell of the junior\u2019s breakout season. \u201cWe were so confident with him with the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cory
Cory Carver throws to first base after tagging second for a double play for the Panthers in May.<\/p>\n

Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span>Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Passell picked up the deserved recognition of Coach of the Year in IML play, guiding the Panthers to a share of the program\u2019s first league crown, while taking M-CHS to a new high-water mark with 22 wins.<\/p>\n

The Panther skipper is quick to credit his staff, however, for the development of the players and success this past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the best coaching staffs in the state,\u201d said Passell of his team\u2019s achievements, \u201cand we believe that we\u2019re going to continue to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistants Jason Hernandez, Les Likes, Jeff McDonell and Josh Cornett supported the mercurial rise of Panther baseball this past season, helping the program\u2019s development at both the varsity and subvarsity levels.<\/p>\n

The unprecedented success for Panther baseball this past season was several years in the making. After knocking on the door with .500 seasons, a large group of upperclassmen leaders took the 2023 campaign by storm.<\/p>\n

M-CHS dominated local opponents, defeated Durango for the first time in more than two decades, while rattling off a program-record 11-game winning streak. The season culminated with a come-from-behind rally to win the regional title in front of their home fans, followed by the program\u2019s first-ever state tournament win in their maiden appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur 10 seniors are truly going to be missed for their talent and leadership,\u201d said Passell of his departing core. \u201cThey have accomplished more than any group in the program\u2019s history, and set a new threshold for these underclassmen to follow. We can’t say enough of how proud we are of all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frost pitches in a contest against Pagosa Springs. (Courtesy Jerry Cohoe) Panthers earns postseason honors after state tournament appearance The 2023 spring season offered the Montezuma-Cortez baseball team plenty excuses to fall short of their potential. Head coach Tim Passell\u2019s squad chose to not accept any of them. Instead, the Panthers excelled on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33261","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=33261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82128,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33261\/revisions\/82128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33261"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}