Sept. 24: Dove Creek 3, Mancos 1
Sept. 27: Dove Creek 3, Norwood 0
Sept. 28: Dove Creek 3, Ouray 0
Three league wins, including their four-set thriller against Mancos, have the Bulldogs poised for a San Juan Basin League title push. The Bulldogs have dropped just four sets all season on their way to a 12-1 mark, as they head into a week that will include matches against nonleague opponent Center (Oct. 4), before a visit to Ouray the following day.
Sept. 27: Mancos 3, Ouray 0
The Mancos Bluejays bounced back from their midweek loss to Dove Creek with a comfortable sweep of the Ouray Trojans. The victory kicks off a four-match homestand, which includes contests against Dolores (Oct. 3) and Telluride (Oct. 5) this week.
Sept. 27: Alamosa 3, M-CHS 0
Sept. 28: Centauri 3, M-CHS 0
The Montezuma-Cortez Panthers dropped both of their IML matches against a pair of strong opponents in their trip to the San Luis Valley. M-CHS falls to 7-12 and 1-3 in league play, while the get ready to return home to face Pagosa Springs on Oct. 1, then Bayfield on the following Tuesday.
Sept. 28: M-CHS 19, Rifle 8
Sept. 28: M-CHS 8, Rifle 5
The Panthers ran their winning streak to six games, and their overall record to 13-8, thanks to a big sweep Saturday at Englehart Field. The Panthers scored 11 runs in the final two innings of game one to break open a tie game with Rifle, while leaning on pitching and defense to settle their second victory.
M-CHS clobbered 19 hits in Game One, including a four-hit outing from senior Devyn Cornett, and home runs from classmates Aubrey Rutherford and Emily Carver. Sophomore Reagan Veach added three extra-base hits in support of Cornett’s pitching. Senior Abigail Coffey collected a pair of hits in the second contest while the Panthers defense played close to error-free defense to close out the sweep.
The Panthers host Delta on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 3 p.m., with a win ensuring M-CHS a Western Slope League title outright.
Sept. 28: M-CHS 1, Alamosa 1
The Panthers settled for a draw in their home opener on Saturday against the Mean Moose, with freshman Brandon Zamora tallying a 31st minute goal to put the hosts in front. On a through ball from midfield, Zamora saw himself in a footrace against a hard-charging Alamosa goalkeeper. Zamora got to the ball first, and lifted it over the keeper into the empty net to put the Panthers in front.
Alamosa equalized in the 39th minute on a penalty kick, before both teams saw opportunities in the second half to claim a game-winning goal. Panther senior goalkeeper Samson Lein made a pair of outstanding diving stops, one in the opening minutes of match, and another with five minutes left to preserve the draw.
M-CHS moves to 2-7-1 and 0-1-1 in IML play, while they prepare for their next home match against Pagosa Springs on Friday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m.
Both the Dolores and M-CHS cross-country teams made the trip to Delta in search of faster times at the Sweitzer Lake Invitational on Friday, while racing against 4A and 5A schools. In the meet, the Dolores boys – a top-10 team in the 2A according to the most recent CHSCA coaches poll – posted four runners in the top 50 in the deep field.
Sophomore Owen Lowe (20th, 17:38) led the way for the Bears, followed by freshman Joseph Padilla (30th, 18:21), junior Bridger Beyhan (36th, 18:44), and sophomore Corvin Smith (38th, 18:46). The Bears finished seventh as a team, but second among 2A schools in the field.
M-CHS took 10th as a team thanks to a pair of top-50 races, with sophomore Cruz Plewe taking 34th in a time of 18:49, and classmate William Blair earning 44th in after crossing in 19:10.
In the girls race, Dolores took eighth as a team, with three runners in the top-50 – seniors Elia and Maya Lowe took 22nd (21:14) and 31st (22:00), respectively. Freshman Emilynn Hill ran a time of 23:16 to claim 48th place for the Bears, who also sit inside the CHSCA top 10.
Senior Sophie Wright led the Panther girls with a 73rd-place finish in a time of 25:13.
Dolores and M-CHS will reconvene at Pagosa Springs next Saturday, Oct. 5 for the McGinn Memorial XC Challenge, while Mancos will return from a week off when they head to Delta for Pantherfest on Friday, Oct. 4.
