The best Durango High School softball season in over a decade has ended in regionals.
After making regionals for the first time since 2011, the Demons lost twice in the Class 4A Site 8 Regionals on Friday to end its season. The No. 24-seeded Durango first lost to No. 9 Frederick, 17-4, and then lost to No. 25 Silver Creek, 10-9 in the first round consolation game.
“I'm excited about what the future holds for us,” Durango head coach Sara Clair said. “As soon as the game was over, I had four of my underclassmen right in front of me just saying, ‘Coach, we're ready for the offseason and whatever you want us to do, we're here, ready to work and get ready for next year.”’
The Demons finished their 2025 season 11-12 overall and 0-8 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League. It was the most wins in a season for Durango since 2021.
After Frederick beat Durango, it beat regional host and No. 8 seed Air Academy, 6-3, to advance to the state tournament at 18-7 overall. After Silver Creek beat Durango, it advanced to the second round of the consolation bracket and lost to Air Academy, 15-5, to end its season at 14-12 overall.
Durango was plagued by a slow start against Frederick and trailed 8-0 after two innings and 13-1 after three innings. Clair wasn’t very impressed with Frederick’s pitching, but she said the Golden Eagles hit the ball very well. Durango hit the ball decently, but Clair said the Demons struggled to string runs together.
The game only lasted another inning, as Frederick outscored Durango, 4-3, in the fourth inning to end the game via mercy rule.
Durango sophomore Avery Jensen led the team at bat, going 2-2 as Frederick outhit Durango, 12-7. Sophomore Abigail Gordon pitched for the Demons and allowed 12 hits and threw a strikeout.
Against Silver Creek, the Demons were much more competitive and the game was tied, 2-2, after the second inning. Durango took a 6-5 lead after the fifth inning, but errors costed the Demons the win. Durango had eight errors and that was a big reason Silver Creek scored five runs in the sixth to take a 10-6 lead going into the seventh. Clair said most of the errors were mistakes in the infield; the eight errors were the most Durango had in a season.
The Demons didn’t roll over down 10-6. Junior Avery Clair hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit to two. But, it wasn’t enough as Durango left some runners on base with the chance to tie.
Individual stats weren’t available for Durango, but Durango did outhit Silver Creek, 9-8.
Durango will lose four key seniors in pitcher Jenna Glueck, third baseman Alexa Capitan, infielder Bailee Franklin and outfielder Sydney Hockaday. However, Durango should return its other 12 varsity players from this season, including its top-eight hitters with Avery Clair leading the way. Durango will also return Gordon in the circle.
Clair is excited about the 12 freshmen this year who are ready to compete for varsity playing time. She also thinks there will be six or seven freshman next year.
Between now and the start of the 2026 season, defense will be the top priority for Clair.
“It’s always the challenge for us,” Clair said about defense. “Where we live, it's a tough thing to work on because there's only so many months out of the year and we're sharing the field with baseball in the spring … we'll continue to work on the offense; our offense is definitely our strong suit.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
