First one to 10 runs wins, apparently.
Durango High School softball split its home-opening doubleheader with Dolores Huerta on Saturday at Aspen Field on the Fort Lewis College campus, winning 10-5 and losing 10-6.
DHS senior Cami Bisbee got the win in the circle in Durango’s first game after throwing a complete game.
The Demons’ bats staked her a 6-4 lead after three innings, and DHS tacked on four more in the later innings.
DHS junior shortstop Rebekah Ford finished a home run shy of the cycle after picking up a single, double and triple in Game 1.
“Everyone on the team definitely wants to be more aggressive. If I get on, it doesn’t do much good unless I get home or hit someone home,” said Ford, daughter of Don Ford and Val Ross. “Batting is how you get on, baserunning is how you score.”
Dolores Huerta (2-3) scored four runs on DHS errors in Game 2.
“We didn’t get beat, we beat ourselves (Saturday),” DHS head coach Chelsea Rodriguez said. “We really outplayed them on the field, but we just made more mistakes than they did.”
The Scorpions ended up scoring six of the game’s final seven runs.
“We had a lot of balls being thrown around the circle, and they were bad throws,” Rodriguez said. “They ended up scoring almost all of their runs on mistakes.”
DHS (1-3) took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the third inning when Bisbee scored after Shilo Gillen reached on a throwing error.
Back-to-back run-scoring singles gave Dolores Huerta the lead again in the top of the fourth inning, and the Scorpions never trailed again.
DHS experienced a couple scary moments during Game 2.
Senior first baseman Danica Dudley was hit by an errant throw in the neck area during the third inning, and she took a minute or so to regain her breath and restart the game.
When warming up for the fifth inning, Bisbee, who threw 12 innings in the doubleheader, felt pain in her right shoulder and dropped to the dirt.
Durango’s athletic trainer checked her out, but she finished the game.
“I’m not sure (what happened). My trainer’s not even sure,” said Bisbee, daughter of Rhonda Bisbee. “I’ve had an inflamed bicep tendon, so I think the nerves in my shoulder just ran up my back and pulsated a little bit, and after that it was just done. It was over, and I didn’t feel it again.”
With their first win of the season in hand, the Demons now will turn their attention to a doubleheader at Delta next Friday.
The focus between now and then: the game’s mental side.
“The girls really need to work on the mental game, knowing what the situation is and what plays to make,” Rodriguez said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
