The home fans recommended the Montezuma-Cortez pitcher think about walking Casey Dunlap. He would have been smart to listen.
With two outs and two Durango High School runners on base in the bottom of the eighth inning, Dunlap belted a three-run home run off the Panthers’ pitcher Dayne Black. The senior lifted the Demons to a 7-4 walk-off win, on senior day, no less.
Black could do nothing but watch the ball leave Walden Memorial Field before slamming his glove on the ground, as Dunlap rounded the bases after hitting his sixth homer of the season.
“I kind of had a feeling I was going to get a good hit that round,” said Dunlap. “He threw me a slider, I swung through it the first pitch. He threw me the same pitch, and I happened to capitalize on it.
“That’s huge. I wanted to have a good last home game, so I’m happy the way it turned out.”
Dunlap, son of Aaron and Julie Dunlap, also was credited as the winning pitcher after hurling 1 2/3 shutout innings.
“It’s always exciting when you have a win on senior day, and it’s a storybook ending,” DHS head coach Eric Baker said.
The fairy-tale finish only came after the Demons (6-10, 2-6 Southwestern League) blew a 3-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning.
DHS starting pitcher Dayne Rowley carried a one-hitter going into the seventh and quickly recorded two outs. But Rowley, another senior, plunked Eddie Martinez with a pitch and allowed a single to Randy Haley to extend the inning for the Panthers (6-11, 0-8 SWL).
Kevin Morales then came up with a two-run double to tie the game, and he scored a batter later when Black hit another RBI-double.
Suddenly, DHS was down 4-3 after controlling the game.
Rowley was relieved by Dunlap, who was able to get the final out of the inning.
Rowley made sure he wouldn’t be charged with a loss, however, as he came up with the game-tying hit in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Kyle Duran from third base.
Duran started the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Duran then took third base as Chris Jaworsky struck out on a hit-and-run attempt.
“I just wanted to put something in play and make something happen,” said Rowley, son of Darren and Kari Rowley. “Our runner got to third base, and I came up and wanted to make them make a play, and I ended up getting a base hit out of it.”
Rowley had one of his best pitching performances of the season Thursday. The Metro State signee struck out five, walked two and hit one batter in 6 2/3 innings. He allowed only four hits, but the DHS defense made four errors behind him. He earned three of the four runs that scored on his watch.
“He was cruising along, but that’s baseball,” Baker said of Rowley. “Everything was going right and no problem, then all of a sudden they get three quick hits and you’re down a run.
“Dayne pitched a good game and was in control, they just managed to get a few timely hits.”
DHS scored first in the third inning on a Dunlap RBI-single. He finished the game 2-for-5 with four RBIs. His three outs all were loud outs on deep fly balls to the center-field warning track.
DHS tacked another run on the board in the fourth on an RBI-double off the bat of Hayden Sill, who was 2-for-4 with a walk that came ahead of Dunlap’s homer.
“It felt good to finally get back in the swing of things and hit the ball,” said Sill, son of Chris and Monica Sill. “It was a real thriller to end the season out on our field.”
Duran scored twice for DHS, adding the team’s third run in the fifth. He doubled and stole third base, forcing an errant throw from the Montezuma-Cortez catcher that allowed him to score.
Both of the Demons’ league wins this year have come against the Panthers with only two league games remaining this season. DHS finished its home schedule 2-5.
DHS will play a non-league game Tuesday at Bayfield before finishing the season at Grand Junction (10-5, 3-3 SWL) and Montrose (10-5, 3-3 SWL).
“We’ve got Bayfield and then two more league games, and then we will see what happens,” said Baker, as he looks to keep playoff hopes alive.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
