Five substitutes picked up a bat for Durango High School baseball in the top of the third inning Tuesday afternoon.
Which, to any late-arriving observer who hadn’t yet seen the right-field scoreboard at Bayfield’s diamond, would have meant things were either going really well or really poorly for the visitors.
Turns out business was, to BHS’ chagrin, booming. The Demons dominated the Wolverines 18-3 for a five-inning victory.
After popping up to Wolverine relief pitcher Jett Rey, beginning his first frame after replacing senior starter Daemon Christner, in his initial third-inning plate appearance atop head coach Masen Hibbeler’s order, Grady Feeney then broke out the proverbial boom stick his next time up.
Facing Rey again with no outs in the guests’ fourth, Feeney lifted a pitch far enough down the left-field line to not only clear the 320-foot sign, but score sophomore designated hitter Cole Clark and senior second baseman Ollie Peterson ahead of himself and thus increase DHS’ lead to 16-3 en route to the 18-3 win – reduced to five innings after Bayfield junior Cameron Queen grounded to senior third baseman Austin Romero, who started a perfect 5-4-3 double play collecting BHS senior Tavian Box.
“Well we’ve had some tight ones lately, so this was good to come down here and free it up,” said second-year head coach Hibbeler. “We had the rough go at (Grand Junction) Central, and then pulled it off against Fruita (Monument), so it was nice to just kind of pull back the blinds and let the boys have fun.”
“It was an inside fastball and …. I just connected pretty well – next thing I know I’m rounding the bases!” Feeney said of his punctuating blast. “It’s my first homer of the year, so it’s very exciting that happened today.”
Standing No. 4 in CHSAA’s week-starting Class 4A rankings, and still relatively fresh off beating FMHS 9-3 and 4-3 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, the 4A/5A Southwestern-leading Demons remained 5-1 in league while improving – via a seventh win in their last eight outings – to 12-5 overall.
Hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 11-6, 10-0 humbling administered on Friday in and by 3A Intermountain rival Alamosa, but fully aware of Durango’s skill, the Wolverines – who checked in at No. 36 in CHSAA’s Class 3A Selection & Seeding Index prior to first pitch – slipped to 6-11 (2-2 IML) overall.
It didn’t take long for DHS to take command; after Christner tagged junior centerfielder Dylan Burns leading off the contest, senior first baseman Dawson McInnes singled and both would score two batters later after a wild pitch dealt to junior leftfielder Coen Anderson (2-2, 2 R, RBI).
Romero was then hit by a pitch, but senior rightfielder Brady Hoerl singled into short center. Unable to make the grab, Box nonetheless managed to throw Romero out at second, but Anderson and Hoerl then executed a perfect double-steal with Anderson scoring and putting Durango up 3-0. Junior catcher Duncan Walsh then doubled to right, plating Hoerl, and scored from second via a muffed Clark fly followed by Peterson’s RBI-single scoring Clark (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) and recycling Hibbeler’s lineup.
Down 6-0 after half a frame, Bayfield scratched out two runs in reply. Manning right field for boss Clay Miller, leadoff man Estevan Gonzalez belted a double to left, took third via a Hoerl error off first baseman Josiah Mayfield’s stick – Mayfield was later awarded a double – and then scored via Box’s single to center off DHS senior starter Sam Clark (W; 2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K).
Powered by an Anderson RBI-double to left and a two-RBI Cole Clark single to left, the Demons rebuilt their lead to 10-2 in the top of the second, before the Wolverines put together a two-out rally in the home half. Fortunately for DHS, only Christner (L; 2 IP, 8 H, 10 R, BB, 2 HB, 2 K), who’d singled to trigger what could have been a crucial comeback, scored, but Queen (0-3, RBI) then grounded out to junior shortstop Landin Padilla with the bases loaded.
DHS then rocked junior righty Rey (1+ IP, 4 H, 3 BB, HB) for six runs in the third and fourth innings for the 16-3 lead, before Miller brought in Dale ‘D.J.’ Valencia (2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, BB) after Rey walked senior Carter Hansen batting for McInnes after Feeney homered. The senior lefty managed to retire three of the next four Demons without giving up another run but DHS junior Jordan Bunker (1-2, R, RBI), who’d replaced Walsh (1-2, R, RBI) back in the third, led off the visitors’ fifth and socked the first Valencia pitch he saw over the left-center fence.
“Baseball’s got a magical way of producing things that … are kind of unexplainable,” Hibbeler said through a grin. “Bunk’s a hometown kid – lives in Bayfield – so just to watch that unfold … was almost a tear-jerker. I’m really happy for him that he pulled it off.”
Junior Jakob Maycock succeeded Sam Clark on the mound and fired three innings of no-hit relief, walked zero Wolverines, beaned one (Box, bottom of the fifth) and struck out six.
Durango will next host Pagosa Springs on Wednesday, with the non-league twofer set to begin at 3 p.m. Bayfield, meanwhile, will head to 2A Ignacio on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. non-league showdown. Results from BHS’ home game on the 23rd against 2A Blanding, Utah, San Juan were unavailable at press time.
“Perfect time to have a weekend off, before the doubleheader and then we’ll tighten it all up as we head into our last couple (SWL) series,” Hibbeler said. Xs and Os were what we conquered last year and we had a great run, but having this team really jell together this season has been our main mantra. It’s fun to watch them start playing good baseball at the right time.”
