During the five-year string of consecutive winning seasons for the Montezuma-Cortez High School softball program, one prominent element helped sustain the Panthers' prominence – their ability to restock talent each year.
In the midst of that run, two freshmen from 2019 jumped right into that role, making immediate impacts on a program that they would become keystone pieces over the following three years.
Seniors Rylee Hickman and Lizzie Likes, after concluding some of the most decorated careers in M-CHS softball history, earned one more accolade to their respective legacies – all-state selections. Hickman landed her second-straight 3A all-state appearance, earning a selection on the second team, while Likes earned her first postseason award, with an honorable mention.
Hickman, a Dove Creek student-athlete who found her home as the anchor of the Panthers defense at shortstop, proved to be one of the hardest outs in the state at the plate, capping her final year with a .580 batting average, 16 doubles and six home runs.
The senior posted great numbers on defense as well, fielding at a .938 clip as the Panthers posted a 15-7 record and a sixth straight regional appearance. Hickman's selection to the second team adds to her honorable mention from 2021.
Likes led the team in batting average (.612) and doubles (17), while striking out only three times in 75 plate appearances. She provided the Panthers with a steady pitcher as well, picking up four wins in the circle.
The duo of Likes and Hickman combined for 88 hits, 81 runs and 25 stolen bases, finishing one-two on the team in each of those categories. Ever since their freshmen debuts, Hickman and Likes have played almost every inning over the past four seasons, a span in which the Panthers have gone 60-28.
Likes’ honorable mention means that the Panthers have multiple all-state honorees in back-to-back years.
Both Hickman and Likes played prominent roles in the Panthers’ two state appearances during their tenure, including the program's first-ever state tournament victory in their 2021 quarterfinal run.
