It all came together for Durango High School in the second game of a softball doubleheader Thursday. It especially helped when the sun began to set on a brutally hot day in Grand Junction.
After a 17-6 loss in Game 1 in which the Demons surrendered two grand slam home runs, the tables were turned in Game 2, as Durango secured a 21-11 victory in five innings.
“It was an incredible bounce back,” DHS head coach John Bernazzani said. “The girls played in ridiculous heat, and it was hard on them. But in the third and fourth innings of that second game, we really piled on with incredible performances at the plate.”
It started in the bottom of the first inning with a grand slam from Sydney Flores in a five-run frame for the Demons. DHS showed plenty of its own life at the plate after giving up grand slams to Grand Junction’s Emilie Angel and Takiah Landes in Game 1.
DHS (1-4, 1-3 5A/4A Southwestern League) would add two runs in the second inning and seven in the third in the Game 2 surge. Six more runs crossed for the Demons in the fourth to make it 20-10. Grand Junction would extend the game to the bottom of the fifth with one run in the top half of the fifth, but Durango pinch hitter Mia Baguskas came off the bench and hit a walk-off single to score Teagan Kehm to give the Demons the run-rule win in the bottom half.
“We were great at the plate, and we were much more relaxed defensively,” Bernazzani said. “We slowed the game down at the right points but approached it with urgency when we needed to. The girls felt in control, and that was a lot better today.”
Kehm pitched a complete game for the Demons in the win. She allowed 10 hits and 11 runs – eight earned – while she struck out four and walked five.
Meah Mordecai of Silverton was big at the plate for DHS. She went 4-for-4 with five runs batted in. Bernazzani said she also did well catching after she was moved behind the plate halfway through the second game.
Carly Piccoli went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a pair of stolen bases for DHS. Flores went 1-for-2 with three walks, the grand slam and five RBIs. Sylvia Reyes also went 2-for-5.
The opening game was a different story, as the Tigers’ offense wouldn’t be slowed.
Flores pitched 2 1/3 innings for Durango. She allowed 14 runs on nine hits, eight walks and one hit batter. She struck out three.
Harley Hutto was the winning pitcher for the Tigers (1-1, 1-1 SWL). She allowed four hits, but the six runs came across thanks mostly to seven walks and three hit batters.
Reyes was 1-for-3 with a walk, a run and an RBI for DHS in the opening game. Lily Longan was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Kehm went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI, and Alaysia Kremer was 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly that drove in a run.
DHS will look to carry some momentum from its first win of the year into a home game at noon Saturday against Palisade.
“Attitudes are good, and the girls are all picking each other up,” Bernazzani said. “This was a good step.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
