CORTEZ – When asked what approach he wanted his players to take when they stepped into the batter’s box, new Montezuma-Cortez High School head coach Evan Frost made his message clear: “You have a green light.”
His varsity lineup of mostly upperclassmen are more than ready to pounce on the opportunity.
Frost and the Panthers have most of their lineup back from a 7-17 season, ready to make plenty of noise again this year with five seniors leading the charge. The new Panthers skipper is no stranger to the program – along with coaching baseball, football and wrestling in past years, Frost also worked on the coaching staff under Anthony “Hippo” Frost during a stretch in which M-CHS were a perennial threat to make the 3A state tournament.
After a year away from the sport, Frost was eager to apply when the head coaching position became available.
“I missed the sport and coaching,” he said. “But I know a lot of the girls already from when I was here a couple seasons ago.”
Senior Raegan Veach, a starter since her first days on campus four years ago, looks to close out a fantastic high school career, both at the plate and anchoring the Panther defense from her shortstop position.
“Raegan’s a gamer – and she’s brought along a lot of the younger girls and helped them get acclimated to what we’re going to do,” said Frost of one of the league’s top hitters.
She joins classmate Jayden White, another four-year starter and Frost’s ace of the pitching staff among the senior leaders. Annalisa Abeyta will see innings in the circle along with White, while Class of ’27 outfielder Abbie Baker and catcher Chelsey Kramer round out the varsity seniors looking to guide the program back to the top of the 12-team 4A/3A Western Slope League.
“Working with ‘Hippo,’ I learned a lot from his coaching style,” said Frost of the former Panther head coach’s even-keel demeanor. “And I want to bring those values to the way I work with these girls.”
A large group of juniors return to the mix, as well, led by Paislee Mestas, who joined Veach, White, Abeyta and Kramer as the Panthers hitting above .300 last fall. Meanwhile, junior Ava Hawkins and sophomore Aubrey Taveira also saw plenty of innings in the circle for M-CHS a year ago.
“The girls already know what to expect of each other,” said Frost. “And they know that success is going to come from the team as a whole, not just from one or two people.”
M-CHS required only six innings to come away with mercy-rule victories over Middle Park (19-0), Moffat County (17-0) and a forfeit by Battle Mountain. White and Abeyta combined to no-hit Middle Park, before White cruised through the Bulldogs lineup less than 24 hours later.
Veach and junior Ellisia Winter piled up four hits apiece in their run-rule-shortened wins, while Baker pushed across five RBIs to go along with four each from Mestas, Abeyta and Taveira. Junior Neveah Benn added a pair of hits and three RBIs.
“We don’t want our girls waiting for several pitches – sometimes the best one you’re going to see is the first one in the at-bat,” said Frost, as the Panthers produced 25 hits and only drew three walks in their action from Rifle.
M-CHS gets ready to take on their home opening doubleheader Aug. 22 when Meeker pays a visit to Englehart Field. Then, the Panthers mix it up with Delta on Aug. 27 at home before contests in Berthoud over the weekend of Sept. 4 and 5.
The Panthers look forward to matchups against Durango on Sept. 15 (road) and Sept. 29 (home) before closing out the regular season with home doubleheaders against Gunnison on Oct. 3 and Cedaredge on Oct. 10.
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