After a quality first regular season under head coach Masen Hibbeler, the Durango High School baseball team is back in the playoffs and has its regional matchup.
The Colorado High School Activities Association unveiled eight 4A baseball regional tournament brackets on Wednesday. The Demons will face Summit at Lewis-Palmer High School in Monument on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
“We’re feeling real good about it,” Hibbeler said. “Wherever we ended up, I'm proud of the boys this year. So we were waiting on it; we were all trying to do the math leading up to it, but it was nice to see it come out and man, it's time to get after it.”
Durango enters regionals with the No. 19 seed. The top 32 teams enter regionals and each region has four teams. The Demons are in the 4A Region 3 against No. 14 Summit. The other matchup in this region is between No. 3 Lewis-Palmer and No. 30 Rifle.
The winner of the Durango vs. Summit game will face the winner of the Lewis-Palmer vs. Rifle game for the 4A Region 3 Championship. Each regional winner makes it to the state tournament bracket to compete for the state title.
Durango finished its regular season 13-8 overall and 5-5 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League. The Demons started the season 2-3 overall before winning eight consecutive games in the middle of the season. Durango struggled a little bit down the stretch and went 2-4 in its last six games, including losses at Palisade on Friday and Saturday.
Hibbeler wasn’t too concerned with the Palisade result. He and his team knew they were making it to regionals and that’s what mattered. Hibbeler reiterated that making the playoffs and winning the last game of the postseason is the goal for every season.
The Demons’ 13 wins in the regular season were the most for the program since 2021. It’s also the first time Durango has made regionals since 2021.
Hibbeler is excited to see what his team can do in a playoff atmosphere. He knows none of his players have experienced the win-or-go-home stakes.
The first-year Durango head coach fondly remembers his high school playoff experiences, helping leading Cypress Ranch High School in Texas to a 6A state title.
“I'm really excited for the boys to experience that; there's not much like high school playoff baseball,” Hibbeler said. “You have a lot of guys all over the field that are going to be playing the last games. It's special to watch that unfold on the diamond, especially when you take 15 to 18-year-old kids in the equation. There's a lot of emotions in my personal (high school playing) experience; we had seven one-run games that was just nail-biting … but it just takes the right team getting hot. This team has the makeup to get the job done.”
Pitching, defense and timely hitting will be the keys for the Demons, according to Hibbeler. He thinks luck is also key. Durango showcased plenty of pitchers during the regular season and Hibbeler said he’s excited to roll with his guys. He said he has four players who can start games in the postseason.
Summit enters the regional matchup 17-6 overall and went 8-2 in the 4A Western Slope League. The Tigers won six consecutive games before losing their regular-season finale to Longmont.
The Tigers’ best hitter in the regular season was junior Sam Eldredge. Wearing number 22, Eldredge led Summit with a 0.545 batting average, 36 hits and four home runs. Eldredge is also the team’s top pitcher with 91 strikeouts in 49 innings pitched and an ERA of 1.86.
Durango and Summit only had one common opponent in Montrose. Summit won 14-7 against Montrose, while Durango won 14-7 and 8-4 against the Red Hawks.
“They (the fans) should expect a good game,” Hibbeler said. “In any high school playoff game, you never know what can happen … if I have a message to the fans, it's come out, and watch how these boys compete in this situation. Because if there's one thing that we've seen this year, it is that we are competitive.”
If the Demons beat Summit, they will likely face No. 3 Lewis-Palmer on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Rangers are 18-5 overall this season and finished 8-2 in the 4A Pikes Peak League.
Lewis-Palmer was 17-2 overall before losing three of its last four regular-season games. The Rangers have a strong program and have won 14+ games in the last six full seasons.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
