Durango High School junior Dawson McInnes was in control on the mound at Durango High School on Friday. McInnes’ 10 strikeouts propelled the Demons to a 5-2 win over Grand Junction Central.
The Warriors’ batters couldn’t find McInnes’ curve ball and McInnes also had good command of his fastball all afternoon. Durango’s batters did enough to consistently score and build up a lead.
“They did a great job,” Durango assistant coach Dayne Rowley said about the Demons. “They battled really well … We stayed pretty consistent and just kept putting the runs up there. We executed well with the runners in scoring position.”
Durango improved to 6-3 overall and 1-0 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League. It was the Demons’ fourth consecutive win.
Junior Austin Romero led the Demons at the plate, going 3-3 with two RBIs. McInnes pitched all seven innings and allowed five hits and two runs while finishing with 10 strikeouts.
Grand Junction Central fell to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League.
McInnes had a nice strikeout in the top of the first. With runners on first and third, the Warrior on first tried to steal and McInnes was on it; he made the tag between first and second to end the top of the first.
Junior Dylan Burns got on base after an error from the grounder he hit. Romero hit a nice line drive over the shortstop’s head and into center field. Burns made it home for a 1-0 lead with an out on the board.
Sophomore Duncan Walsh had a 3-1 count with two outs and runners out first and second. He hit a fly ball to left field that was caught for the third out and the end of the inning.
McInnes continued his strong start with plenty of strikes; some were swung on and others flew into the catcher’s glove with the batters as still as a statue. McInnes had two strikeouts and Durango’s center fielder had a great catch on a deep ball to center field to end the top of the third 1-0 Durango.
“He goes out and he battles,” Rowley said about McInnes. “Every single time he fills it up, he goes ahead and gets ahead in the count. We know we have a great shot to win the game and he's going to give us an awesome shot every time he steps on the mound.”
Freshman Cole Clark got on base thanks to another Grand Junction Central errant throw. Romero had a great hit to center field into green grass. Clark made it home to give Durango a 2-0 lead with one out.
The Demons had runners on first and second and Walsh again had a 3-1 count with two outs. He went out swinging and Durango left the bottom of the third up 2-0.
“Hitting is the hardest thing doing all the sports,” Rowley said. “Just stay in there. Guys are going to go through slumps and go through times when they're not hitting well. But what you can be is a leader on the team, which he (Walsh) is. He steps right back up, goes behind the plate and is a leader to him (McInnes) when he's on the mound.”
Senior Jack Englund showed his athleticism in the bottom of the fourth. After advancing to first, Englund was leading off from first. The Warriors’ pitcher tried to throw him out but didn’t connect with his first baseman. Englund took advantage and made it to third with his speed. Moments later, he tagged up after a flyball to get home and give the Demons a 3-0 lead.
Grand Junction Central finally broke through in the top of the fifth. Durango had the chance to get its second out but made the wrong choice of trying to throw out a batter at second instead of going for the easy tag at first.
The Warriors took advantage. Octavio Galegos, a lefty, hit one over the third baseman and down the third base line and got one of his teammates home.
Durango got out of the inning with only one run scored on the Demons
Romero continued his strong hitting and hit a beautiful ball into center field. The Warriors’ center fielder had trouble handling it, allowing Romero to advance to third. Junior Landin Padilla brought Romero home with a grounder to the left and the Demons led 4-1.
After a brief pause in the action, Padilla stole second and McInnes then hit a grounder to center field that went right between the center fielder’s legs. Padilla got home for a 5-1 lead with zero outs in the bottom of the fifth.
The Warriors scored again in the top of the seventh after a dropped catch in center field. The Demons recovered and McInnes finished the game with a strikeout.
Durango and Grand Junction Central return to Durango High School tomorrow at 10 a.m.
“I’m feeling great,” McInnes said. “We started off kind of rough, but we’ve cleaned up the stuff we were missing on. We have a great coach now and a great coaching staff all around. So I feel like we really have a good shot at going pretty deep in the playoffs.”\
bkelly@durangoherald.com
