GREELEY – The Panthers entered the 3A state baseball tournament in Greeley with some of the hottest bats in the field, hoping their third state would be the charm. Their high-octane offense ran out of steam, however, as the Panthers exited in the double-elimination format with losses to D’Evelyn, 16-10, and Elizabeth, 6-2, to close out another storied campaign.
Winners of their previous 13 contests heading to University High School on Friday, No. 3 Montezuma-Cortez High School (20-7) looked to sustain momentum against the No. 6 seed Jaguars. After staking out an early 2-0 lead through the opening two innings, M-CHS ran into another hot-hitting outfit, as D’Evelyn scored nine times in the third inning to completely shift the trajectory of the contest.
The Jaguars added three more in the fourth inning before M-CHS’ offense started to catch their stride with a four-run sixth to cut the margin to 12-7. D’Evelyn answered right back with their own big inning in the sixth to restore a nine-run lead, then preserved the victory in spite of the Panthers pushing across three more runs in their last at-bat.
Heading into Saturday’s elimination bracket, the Panthers needed two wins to advance to the championship weekend on May 29 and 30. Facing No. 7 Elizabeth, M-CHS pitching kept the Cardinals from posting the big inning, but a pair of runs in each of the first and third innings for Elizabeth forced the Panthers to play catch-up all morning.
M-CHS shaved the deficit to 5-2 in the fifth, but got no closer as the Panthers closed out the season and the high school careers of their six graduating seniors. The Class of ’26 closed out one of the best four-year stretches in school history, posting an impressive record of 81-28 in their careers, including four straight league titles, three 20-plus win seasons, and three trips to the state tournament.
