The Durango High School baseball team closed out its spring break trip to the Front Range with a bang.
The Demons’ offense exploded for 10 runs in the third inning Thursday against Pueblo Central en route to a 19-9 win. Lawrence Mayberry had four hits and three runs batted in to lead Durango’s offensive outburst. Kyle Duran had three hits and three RBIs, and Peyton Woolverton had three RBIs and closed the game out on the mound for the Demons.
“We started off a bit slow (Thursday) and batted around and then some in the third,” Durango head coach Eric Baker said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We hit the ball hard (Tuesday) against Denver North, but we were just hitting it right at them. We found some holes (Thursday), though.”
Durango (3-5) starter Dylan Carlson was touched up for two runs in the first inning before settling in nicely and getting a comfortable cushion from his offense.
Trailing 2-0 in the third, the Demons came to the plate and battered Wildcats pitching in the third with 13 hitters stepping to the plate and 10 coming back to touch it on their way back to the dugout. Durango was in complete control from there.
All that was left for Carlson to do was throw strikes, and the senior hurler did just that. He gave up eight runs – four earned – and struck out three in the win.
“There’s still a bunch of things we can improve on,” Baker said. “We had good pitching to start the season, and now the bats really came around on this trip. If we can get it all to click together at once, we’re going to string together some wins.”
Durango will be back on the diamond at 4 p.m. Tuesday hosting Montezuma-Cortez.
jfries@durangoherald.com
