Even after losing both games of a doubleheader, the Durango High School softball team feels like it is knocking on the door of being a quality team this season.

The DHS Demons (2-3) lost 17-10 and 8-6 in two games against Delta (5-2) on Friday at Aspen Field on the Fort Lewis College campus.

DHS trailed 16-2 in the opening game before rallying to make the game close.

“Camille Bisbee came on to pitch in relief of (Augusta Brockus), and she kept us in it the whole way,” DHS first-year head coach Chelsea Rodriguez said. “We battled back and loaded the bases in the last inning, but we couldn’t get the runs in.”

DHS also had the bases loaded in the final inning of the 8-6 loss, but again the Demons were unable to push the necessary runs across the plate.

Alexys Vidunas pitched Game 2 and earned only two of the eight runs that scored while she threw more than 140 pitches.

“She did a fantastic job. She was in a lot of battles with Delta hitters fouling her off and working full counts,” Rodriguez said. “She pitched well enough to win; we just couldn’t get our bats going at the right time.”

Delta hammered the ball in the opening game with multiple home runs, including a grand slam.

“It was not a pretty sight,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez called Rebekah Ford the team’s most consistent hitter at the plate.

“She hit like a Demon all day, excuse the pun, but she really hammered it,” Rodriguez said. “We had a lot of offensive production, but it was mental errors at wrong times that doomed us in both games.”

DHS will try to pick up a few wins Saturday in another doubleheader against Palisade (2-5). The first game will begin at 10 a.m. at Aspen Field.

“I know the girls are frustrated, and I am, too, to a point,” Rodriguez said. “But I know we are on the doorstep of being on the winning side of these games. We can turn it around (Saturday) morning, and I know the girls will find a groove. We have plenty of time to turn it around.”

heraldsports@durangoherald.com