In December, Durango High School baseball head coach Masen Hibbeler knew there’d be a time when the team would rely on senior Austin Romero in a big moment, and that’s what happened on Saturday with a regional title on the line.
The No. 3-seeded Demons fell behind 4-0 in the third inning against No. 19 Cheyenne Mountain with some pitching struggles and cold bats. Hibbeler sent in Romero as a reliever to steady the ship.
Romero did just that, not allowing a single run to score in the next four innings as Durango steadily chipped away at the deficit until it was an advantage. Romero’s two strikeouts in the top of the seventh and a fly ball right into the glove of senior Dylan Burns were enough to seal the 5-4 victory at home to win the 4A Region 3 regional for the second consecutive year and advance to the state tournament.
“It's amazing,” Hibbeler said. “Right now, I'm looking at my seniors taking pictures with the trophy in front of the scoreboard, and that's what it's all about.”
Durango improved to 18-7 overall with its second consecutive regional title. It’s the first time Durango has won consecutive regional titles since 2013 and 2014. The win was extra special because it was Cheyenne Mountain that knocked Durango out of the state tournament last season. The Hawks finished their season 14-10 overall with the loss despite outhitting Durango 13-9.
Senior Landin “Bubba” Padilla led Durango at the plate, going 2-2 at bat. Junior Coen Anderson wasn’t far behind, going 2-3 at bat. Romero finished with four strikeouts and six hits allowed in 4.2 innings.
“It means a lot to me because it's all the hard work finally paying off,” Romero said. “I was just so confident the whole game, even when we were down, in the team and myself, especially myself. I've just worked my butt off the entire offseason, in-season, … I'm just so thankful for my coaching staff, and just the support I've had to really get me to where I'm at ... This is all I could ever ask for on my home field.”
Junior Cole Clark got the start for the Demons and Hawks junior Colton Johnson hit a double with one out. Another double was hit, and it looked like Johnson was going to get home, but Burns threw a rope from center field to junior catcher Duncan Walsh, who tagged Johnson out at the plate for the second out. The next Cheyenne Mountain batter grounded out to end the top of the first.
Johnson also started on the mound for the Hawks, and he got three quick outs to end the inning.
Cheyenne Mountain started the second with a triple and a single to put the Hawks up 1-0 with zero outs. Clark walked the next batter and when he did put it in the zone, it was hit. Burns made another stellar play, tracking down a ball on the run for the diving catch for the second out.
Clark’s struggles to finish batters continued, and a hit up the middle brought a Hawk home to go up 2-0 to start the third. Hibbeler had seen enough and brought in Romero. Cheyenne Mountain left the top of the third up 4-0 as Burns made another great catch.
Durango finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Dawson McInnes crushed one right down the middle, stole to second and Padilla hit one down the left field line to bring McInnes home. Anderson then hit one up the middle to bring Padilla home. A double play ended the inning with Durango down 4-2.
A double play ended the scoreless top of the fourth for Durango, and Cheyenne Mountain changed its pitcher to Chase Hoendervoogt. He didn’t allow a run to go into the fifth. Romero got his first two strikeouts to start the fifth.
With runners on first and third, Romero had the biggest hit of the day to that point, a line drive down the first baseline to bring Padilla and Anderson home to tie the game going into the sixth.
“In the box, the game relies on him to get that big knock, and that's exactly what he does,” Hibbeler said about Romero. “He's an outstanding kid; an outstanding player.”
Romero really found his groove in the fifth and sixth, not allowing a runner to get close to scoring with the game tied. In the bottom of the sixth, the Demons got runners on first and third with one out after a pop-up by junior Cully Feeney along the first baseline that stayed fair.
Burns cranked one to deep center that was caught, but Walsh tagged up at third to get home for the 6-5 lead going into the seventh.
The Durango fans got on their feet at the top of the seventh with the Demons up one, three outs away from their second consecutive regional victory.
Romero got the inning started with two strikeouts, igniting the Durango crowd. Romero allowed two hits after that, and runners advanced to second and third after a bounced pitch. With two strikes, Romero’s pitch was hit right to Burns’ glove for the third out, and the celebration began.
“The fastball, I just pounded it in,” Romero said. “With adrenaline, I was just super fired up on the mound. I was throwing a little extra hard, and I don't think they could catch up to it. Then, throwing the breaker to finish it off was really working.”
Durango will move to the eight-team, double-elimination state tournament on Friday and/or Saturday, either at the Air Force Academy or in Colorado Springs. Durango’s opponent is TBD, but the Demons should get the No. 2 seed after No. 2 Golden lost in its regional.
“The fight in this team, they earned every bit of the position they're in right now to go win this whole thing, and I'm just so proud of them,” Hibbeler said.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
