The Demons baseball team had a perfect spring day for a game in front of their home fans on Tuesday afternoon. Durango had a 7-0 lead against Montezuma-Cortez before holding on for a 7-4 victory, thanks to a clean game by the Demons and some quality pitching.
Durango was in control the entire game, although the Panthers got their bats going in the sixth inning to make it interesting. Senior pitcher Jack Englund showed some composure at the top of the seventh to make sure the Demons’ work in the first five innings wasn’t for nothing and the Demons came away victorious.
“It was spectacular,” Durango head coach Masen Hibbeler said. “Sam Clark, our starting pitcher, has been doing that all year. We've been working on piecing it behind them defensively and it all came together today. It's tough when they see you for the third fourth time around. It was cool to watch a senior Jack step in and get the job done.”
Durango improved to 5-3 overall and has won three consecutive games. The Demons were outhit by the Panthers 7-5, but MCHS had four errors compared to zero for Durango.
The Demons had well-rounded hitting, with sophomore Duncan Walsh, junior Ollie Peterson, junior Dawson McInnis, senior Jack Englund and junior Landin Padilla each finishing with one hit.
Junior Sam Clark pitched the first six innings for the Demons, allowing six hits and three runs and finishing with a season-high nine strikeouts. Englund pitched the final inning, allowing one hit, one run and finishing with two strikeouts.
Montezuma-Cortez fell to 8-3 overall. Sophomore Michael Krupa led the Panthers with two hits, including a home run. Junior Cory Carver also had two hits.
Senior Seth Oakes pitched three innings and allowed four hits, four runs and had a strikeout. Junior Kallan Wirth pitched two innings and allowed a hit and a run while finishing with two strikeouts. Sophomore Connor Rosenbaugh pitched an inning and allowed two runs while finishing with a strikeout.
MCHS got batters on base in the top of the second. The Demons picked up a grounder, got one batter out and went for the double play. The throw to first base couldn’t be caught and a Panther rounded third. Durango recovered and threw to the catcher at home who tagged the runner out to keep it 0-0 heading into the bottom of the second.
“The ball is going to start going in the glove eventually,” Hibbeler said. “I feel like out here in Colorado, they're a little behind when it comes to reps just because of the weather so that stuff's going to happen. But we've been really putting an emphasis on being in the right spot. If you're in the right spot, the game is going to come to you and when you have the opportunity, take advantage of it.”
McInnis hit a beauty right up the middle that was a foot from being a home run to start the bottom of the second. Padilla rounded home and McInnis advanced to second base as the Demons took a 1-0 lead. Right after, Walsh hit a grounder down the middle that let McInnis get home and Walsh advanced to first. Durango led 2-0 with zero outs.
Peterson hit another right up the middle and senior Cully Feeney, a pinch-runner, rounded home for a 3-0 lead. Senior Ethan White grounded out to end the inning.
Durango junior Dylan Burns made a great play on a fly ball in the bottom of the third. He tagged up after the catch on the deep fly ball, then advanced from second to third. MCHS couldn’t make the throw and the ball went into the fence. Burns advanced home and put the Demons up 4-0 with one out.
Clark started the top of the fifth with two strikeouts but allowed a hit that rolled down the third base line and stayed in for a double. But Clark responded with a strikeout on the batter after to leave the top of the fifth still up 6-0.
“He's a new guy in the lineup, a new face in Durango,” Hibbeler said about Clark. “I've seen him in the facility over at Choice Athletics. I've seen him out here. He gets after it. He comes to work every day. He's kind of really taken to that number one Friday night. We call it a Friday night guy, our ace; he’s really taken to it.”
The Demons almost had an infield home run in the sixth inning. Padilla hit what looked to be a routine grounder to the MCHS shortstop. But two Panthers went to the ball and caused an errant throw past first. A Durango runner went home and Padilla rounded the bases but was tagged out at home.
MCHS got things going in the sixth inning, with two bombs deep into center field. One wasn’t caught and eventually, after a few hits, three Panther runners got home and the sixth inning started with the Demons up 7-3.
Hibbeler said his team needs to learn to keep its foot on the gas against good teams like Montezuma-Cortez. He said the matchup against the Panthers helps the Demons before they enter league play.
Englund got on the mound to start the seventh. Krupa started the seventh inning with a leadoff home run to center field to cut the deficit to 7-4. Englund bounced back from the home run with a strikeout and a flyout ended the game.
“He obviously could have gone back out, but that had been the fifth time some guys would have seen him,” Hibbeler said about Clark. “Especially the top of the lineup, they've got a couple of good veterans up there. So going Jack there, Jack's had some early season struggles on the mound, but we’re trying to work through it. So every opportunity to get them up there, to get in and shut it down, we’re going to give it to him.”
The Demons play Grand Junction Central at home on Friday at 3 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
