The first three innings lasted an eternity.There were eight walks, two passed balls and one hit batter.
Neither pitcher commanded the strike zone, yet only Bloomfield truly capitalized on the plethora of pitches. Three in the first, three in the third, and Bloomfield led Durango 6-1 after three innings and an hour and a half of baseball.
"We've got a lot of guys that can swing the stick," Demons coach Rob Coddington said. "Once we started swinging the bat, stringing some hits together, waking up on offense, we were pretty dangerous."
Durango, for the second time in the last week, came from behind to defeat Bloomfield 12-6 on Tuesday at Ward Lee Field at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
One week ago, Durango scored nine runs in the seventh inning to win 17-16 at Bloomfield.
Tuesday's comeback started in the top of the fourth inning, the first full inning of work for Demons' relief pitcher Austin Rochford.
"Austin got that started for us," Coddington said.
Rochford relieved starting pitcher Jordan Gillen in the top of the third, after Gillen allowed a solo home run over the left-field fence to catcher and No. 5 hitter Colby Aragon. Rochford allowed two runs in the third, then pitched a 1-2-3 fourth.
"He allowed a hit and a couple of runs, but once that happened, he settled in for a three-up, three-down," Coddington said. "He's been working hard for us, and he got that (rally) going for us (Tuesday)."
Durango answered with a seven-run fourth to take an 8-6 lead.
Christian Silva led off the inning with a walk, then Ben Southworth singled to left. Chris Breen walked to load the bases.
Rochford, in the hole 0-2, was hit by a pitch to drive in the inning's first run.
Demons' leadoff hitter Tyler McKnight struck out swinging for the first out, but John Ugai picked him up with a sharp single to left field. The ball bounced over the left fielder's head, and Ugai ended up on third with a bases-clearing single and a two-base error.
Aaron Coats struck out swinging for the second out, then Kenneth Gallegos, Justin Whirlow and Silva put together three consecutive hits to score three more runs.
Gallegos blooped an RBI double to left-center field.
Whirlow lined an RBI double off the third-base bag.
Silva, his second at-bat of the inning, singled to center to drive in the Demons' seventh run of the frame.
"It was a momentum swing, for sure," Gallegos said of Rochford's perfect fourth.
Southworth pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Rochford, including a 1-2-3 sixth.
"Ben, Austin, we wanted both of those guys to get work against live hitters," Coddington said. "They both did a great job."
Durango scored three more in the fifth and one more in the sixth. Coats coaxed a game-ending 5-4-3 double play in the top of the seventh.
"We just weren't swinging at good pitches (early in the game)," said Gallegos, who was 2-for-3 with a single, a double, a walk, two runs scored and two runs batted in.
Durango, its nonconference schedule finished, will return to Southwestern League play this weekend at home against Montrose and Grand Junction.
Durango is 6-5 overall, 2-1 in league play.
"Montrose, they've got a new coach, and he's doing a good job with those guys," Coddington said. "They're a real competitive high school, and they're not going to lay down to anybody. They've played us tough the last couple of games down here."
aaron@durangoherald.com
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