Eric Baker would have been happy with a split going into the first two games of the season. The Demons delivered just that, but it didn’t come in the fashion the first-year Durango High School head baseball coach expected.
The Demons dropped a 17-5 game in a run-rule shortened game that lasted five innings against Delta to open play in the Lloyd McMillan Memorial Baseball Tournament at Montrose High School.
After going up 5-0 in the top of the first inning, fueled by a three-run homer by senior Casey Dunlap, the Demons gave up 17 unanswered runs to Delta. Walks and hit batters doomed the Demons’ pitchers the rest of the way.
But DHS responded with a big 8-6 win against Fort Collins in the afternoon game.
“I would’ve been happy with a split coming in, but I expected it to come the other way,” Baker said. “I’m happy with the kids. They shook off that first loss. A lot of times when you come out that shaky it can be tough to put it behind you, but they did and beat a pretty good Fort Collins team.”
DHS needed a turn through the lineup to solve Fort Collins ace pitcher Preston Snavely, a Wichita State commit who has hit 92 mph on the radar gun. The Demons trailed 4-1 through three innings before the bats came alive. They scored five in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-4 lead, but Fort Collins tied the game at 6 in the top of the fifth.
Dayne Rowley got the Demons going in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run double.
With the game still knotted in the bottom of the sixth, a Lawrence Mayberry triple scored Zach Szura, who led off with a double, to give the Demons the go-ahead run. Mayberry later scored in the inning to give DHS its 8-6 lead.
Zac Gasaway came on to close the game out from the mound in the top of the seventh to earn the save for the Demons.
Hayden Sill pitched the first three innings for DHS. The Demons surrendered three runs in the first inning, but Sill settled into a nice groove from there, Baker said. Chris Jaworski pitched the next two innings, Jordan McKnight was on the hill in the sixth to earn the win.
Over the course of the two games, Dunlap was 4-for-7 at the plate with four runs batted in, including the three-run homer. Mayberry was 3-for-7, and Dayne Rowley was 2-for-5 with two big RBIs.
“The kids battled well at the plate all day against pretty good pitching,” Baker said.
DHS will wrap up the tournament against Fort Morgan at 11:45 a.m. Saturday. Mayberry is the projected starting pitcher.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
