The Montezuma-Cortez softball team got in the win column last weekend at the Pueblo County Tournament.

The Lady Panthers started the season with consecutive losses to Rifle in a double header, falling 11-1 and 7-2 in away games on August 27.

But then they had nearly two weeks until their next game at the Pueblo County Tournament.

“I’m glad that we had that first before our conference games,” said head coach Angelo Topaha. “We got the chance to improve. And after the Rifle games we got the chance to improve with this tournament.”

M-CHS lost to Canon City, 13-11 and Cheyenne Mountain, 7-3 on Friday to fall to 0-4 on the season. But the young squad bounced back on Saturday to defeat The Classical Academy, 9-8 and Mesa Ridge, 8-7.

Topaha said that some of the highlights from the tournament were Morgan Short’s inside-the-park home run against Cheyenne Mountain and Alexis Cornett’s defensive play in center field.

He also saw the team’s pitching improve, with Presley Frost getting the win over The Classical Academy and Dannika Noyes picking up the W against Mesa Ridge.

“We’re still working on the pitching part of it,” Topaha continued. “With both pitchers – I was looking in the scorebook – they kind of fell off the table in about the fifth or sixth inning; walks and getting hit and all that.”

“But other than that,” he added, “Our defense held their ground and didn’t throw the ball around like we did in Rifle.”

M-CHS (2-4, 0-0 Western Slope League) begins league play on Saturday as it hosts the Basalt Longhorns (7-1, 4-1 WSL) for a double header with games at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.