MEEKER I The Cowboys began the week preparing for six games in three days, beginning on Thursday with Cedaredge at home.
“We finally had some home games and put on a great performance for the crowd coming away with two wins against a strong opponent,” said head coach Kendal Bergman.
In game one the Cowboys won the game with a strong offense. Brea Garcia pitched a complete game for the win with Ryan Mergelman behind the plate.
The tough and clean defense never let up throughout the entire game. Reagan Hafey hit a solo homerun over the fence in the fifth inning, Kastyn Dembowski had a line drive double and also Athena Lyon with another double of her own. The final score was 15-8 to the Cowboys.
“Once again, the entire lineup was strong at the plate and great defensive plays by the entire team for the second game,” commented Bergman.
In game two Hailey Knowles pitched a complete game, only allowing two runs. Defensively Mykayla Wille snagged a line drive in the 5-6 hole, Dembowski caught one at the fence in center, and Lyon was solid behind the plate. Meeker’s bats were alive once again with hits throughout the entire lineup. Wille stayed strong at the plate with a line drive double to center, followed by a double RBI by Hafey, Vivian Brown had a hard hit up the middle, and Dylan Herndon had a runner moving bunt and a hard single up the middle. The Cowboys won 14-2.
“The girls did an amazing job in these two games and made the home crowd and coaches proud,” said Bergman.
The Cowboys hit the road for a four game series in Durango and Cortez. The Cowboys couldn’t hold off Durango in two very close games. Losing game one 7-8 and game two 4-3.
“We went into the Cortez games knowing we needed to win to have a chance at the league championship,” commented Bergman. “The girls fought hard in both games after already playing four games in the two previous days.”
Knowles pitched game one and had help from her defense and hitting lineup. Mergelman was a wall behind the plate and defensive plays by Dembowski in center field, Herndon in right field, and Macy Ridgeway at first base.
The Cowboys also executed under pressure successfully getting outs in pickles on two different occasions.
“Very impressive patience at the plate and aggressive swings on strikes with multiple extra base hits by numerous players to score runs,” said Bergman.
Extra base hits by Brown, who had a double to right field, Knowles’ triple to right field, Wille’s triple that started off the game scoring two runners, and Mergelman’s hard hit up the middle for a single and the Cowboys scored ten going into the last two innings.
Meeker was able to keep the lead in the last two innings to come away with a first game win of 11 to 8.
The series ended 1-1 and in game two the Cowboys had to fight back to gain back the lead but the Cowboys ended up losing by one run in the last inning.
“The girls never gave up and fought hard the entire time,” said Bergman.
Cortez scored four runs in the first inning but the Cowboy offense fought back with Wille hitting a triple down the first base line and a single by Hafey to score two runs to cut their lead in half. “Brea Garcia, the fierce competitor she is, kept getting better and better throughout the innings, allowing less and less runs,” commented Bergman, “this allowed the offense to come back swinging”.
Offensively there was a lot of contribution from the entire team,the Cowboys stepped up and moved runners and stayed patient to get on base with walks. Brown, Dembowski, Macy Ridgeway, Knowles and Hafey all had hits and aggressive base running that allowed the Cowboys to score more runs to catch up to Cortez but lost the game 10-11.
“Both infield and outfield had great plays and great hustle that took away quite a few hits by Cortez. It was a tough loss, by one run, at the end of the second game but I couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” wrapped up Bergman. “They showed so much heart and fight that will help us finish out our season on a high note and take us into the postseason.”
Tuesday’s game with Basalt was canceled. No makeup games will happen, no other opponents could be found. With the forfeit the Cowboys are looking strong as league champs.
By TIFFANY JEHOREK – Special to the Herald Times
