Softball Preview: Montezuma-Cortez Panthers vs. Niwot Cougars
The Montezuma-Cortez Panthers will square off against the Niwot Cougars at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. Montezuma-Cortez is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 12.1 runs per game this season.
Montezuma-Cortez lost 11-2 to The Classical Academy on Friday. The matchup marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Montezuma-Cortez saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Saylor Martinez, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Niwot). They blew past Resurrection Christian 18-2 on Friday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded Niwot with their most commanding win of the season.
Kianna Butler made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off one hit. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Niwot got a massive performance out of Angela Arosemena, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Simone Paterno, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Niwot was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .586. The last time their batting average was this high was back in August of 2023.
This is the second loss in a row for Montezuma-Cortez and nudges their season record down to 6-5. As for Niwot, the win also got them back to even at 3-3.
Both both just can't seem to miss. Montezuma-Cortez has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 13.3 hits per game. However, it's not like Niwot struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.2. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Montezuma-Cortez couldn't quite finish off Niwot in their previous meeting back in September of 2021 and fell 9-7. Can Montezuma-Cortez avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
