Six hits and seven walks weren’t enough for the Durango Demons to pick up a win Thursday to open the 2019 high school baseball season.
Durango High School committed seven errors and had three pitchers combine to walk 11 batters in a 17-6 loss to Aztec in the first game of the Farmington High School Scorpions Invitational on Thursday at Ricketts Park in New Mexico.
“They didn’t come out and knock ball around the park to beat us, and they didn’t hit to beat us,” DHS head coach Eric Baker said. “We had way too many mistakes and were a little jittery for the early-season game. The bad news is there’s a lot of things to work on, but good news is we are fully capable of fixing them and coming out the next game and being better.”
Durango plated two runs in the top of the first and three more in the second but surrendered three Aztec runs in the first and five more in the second. Aztec tacked on two runs in the third and another five in the fourth to run away with the game.
Leadoff hitter Cal Walsh led the Demons at the plate. The sophomore was 2-for-4 with a double, pair of runs batted in and two runs scored. Walsh had the lone extra-base hit of the game for DHS.
Senior Dawson Marcum was 1-for-3 with a stolen base, a run and an RBI, while sophomore Niko Mestas was 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Al Hurworth and Seth Joyner each pitched two innings for the Demons, while Fynn Hyson threw three innings. Hurworth struck out two and walked four and earned three runs on three hits. Joyner allowed only one run and one hit, while he struck out one and walked one. Hyson was charged with eight of the 10 runs that crossed on his watch. He struck out two and walked six and allowed five hits.
Durango will play the loser of host Farmington and Los Lunas at 11:30 a.m. Friday.
Three runs in the first and seven in the fifth sent the Uintah Utes baseball team of Vernal, Utah, past the Bayfield Wolverines on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Scorpions Invitational at Ricketts Park in New Mexico.
The Utes won 11-1 in five innings in a mercy-rule shortened game.
“We obviously didn’t have the game we wanted today; we struggled at the plate,” said Bayfield head coach Bert Miller. “We talked to the boys about a different approach to hitting, and hopefully tomorrow we’ll put the ball in play and win a game.”
Senior pitcher Kyler Murray won the game for the Utes with five strong innings. He allowed five hits and struck out 10. Andrew Morgan was the losing pitcher for Bayfield. He lasted three innings and had four strikeouts. He gave up three hits and four runs – three earned – along with three walks and two hit batters.
Rhett Hoover went 1-for-2 with an RBI for the Wolverines. Alec Demko was 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored. Hayden Farmer and Dillon Vroman each went 1-for-2 at the plate, while Morgan was 1-for-1.
Joel Hardman was 2-for-4 for the Utes with a double, two RBIs and a run. Daegun Oaks was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI.
Bayfield dropped to the loser’s bracket and will face the loser of Grants and Montrose at 9 a.m. Friday. Farmer will pitch for BHS.
“He ain’t going to be able to throw more than 50 pitches, but maybe we can get three innings out of him and be right in the middle of the game,” Miller said of his ace.
Pine River Times sports writer Joel Priest contributed to this report.
jlvingston@durangoherald.com
