CORTEZ – Eyeing its second consecutive league title, the Montezuma-Cortez baseball team made sure that its home doubleheader against Centauri did not become a stumbling block along the way.
The Panthers crushed Centauri, 13-3 and 12-2, in a pair of mercy-rule shortened games on Saturday.
Montezuma-Cortez (11-8, 5-1 in Intermountain League play) has won six of its last seven games and in a step closer to winning the league title outright.
Six different Panther pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts in the sweep, allowing only nine hits spanning the two contests.
Juniors Bobby Likes and Seth Oakes got the starting assignments, while junior Samson Lein, sophomores Jaris McDonald and Darren Daves, and freshman Connor Rosenbaugh kept the Centauri (7-14, 1-7) at bay.
Freshman Easton Pixler and sophomore Cory Carver each had four hits between the two games. Sophomore Parker Conrad added three more hits, while senior Dean York and freshman Michael Krupa each collected a pair of hits. Lein blasted a home run in the opening game of the twin bill.
Montezuma-Cortez ran rampant on the base paths, stealing 12 bags between the two games. The Panthers rallied from early deficits in both games to post huge scoring outputs in the second, third and fourth innings.
The Panthers face Del Norte (9-8) in a midweek clash Wednesday at McAndrew Field, starting at 4 p.m. Montezuma-Cortez will travel to Bayfield (7-13, 4-2 in league play) three days later for a chance to win the league title outright.
The Panthers can clinch the league title by winning at least one of the two games in that doubleheader against the Wolverines, which starts at 11 a.m.
