Durango High School broke out the bats in a big way Thursday in Farmington.
The DHS Demons (3-1) totaled 14 hits in five innings as they took a 15-5 win in five innings against the Miyamura Patriots (1-3) of Gallup, N.M., in the opening round of the Piedra Vista Invitational at Ricketts Park.
“The best part about (Thursday) was we didn’t really pay attention to who we were playing; we took care of our own business,” DHS head coach Rob Coddington said. “The bottom of the lineup did a nice job with tough at-bats, and the top of the lineup did a nice job getting on base and coming up with clutch hitting.”
Casey Dunlap and Jeremy Szura both went 3-for-4 at the plate. Dunlap had a double, two runs batted in and four runs scored. Szura had four RBIs.
Also finishing with multiple hits was Zac Gasaway and Wyatt Wymore. Gasaway was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Wymore was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
DHS had three doubles in the game, and the team combined for 12 RBIs. Coddington credited the team’s base running and execution on a few bunts for a six-run third inning.
“We had great two-strike hitting,” Coddington said. “Szura hit a nice shot at the end of game to give us the 10-run rule. One through nine, all of our kids did a nice job.”
Dayne Rowley earned the win on the mound for the Demons. He pitched four innings and gave up five runs – three earned – on four hits. He had one strikeout.
Gasaway closed the game. He struck out one and gave up one hit but nothing else.
“We had a couple of defensive miscues, but nobody let it bother them,” Coddington said. “Last year, errors would get to the guys. This year, they are letting them go off our back like we are supposed to. The guys are being aggressive.”
DHS will play Farmington in the second round of the tournament at 2 p.m. Friday. The Scorpions had a bye Thursday in the seven-team varsity tournament. Farmington entered the loser’s and winner’s bracket and will have to play Miyamura at 9 a.m. before DHS at 2 p.m.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
