Untimely mistakes and missed opportunities cost the Durango Demons in extra innings.
Durango High School (3-2) fell 5-4 to the Farmington Scorpions (7-4) in the second round of the Piedra Vista Invitational on Friday at Ricketts Park in Farmington.
The Demons led 4-1 going to the bottom of the sixth inning when the Scorpions tied the game. DHS had a chance to tack on a run in the top of the seventh, but the Demons struck out with runners on first and third to end the threat.
Farmington won the game in the bottom of the eighth inning when Ethan Spellbring reached first before advancing to second when DHS committed an error on an infield grounder. Spellbring advanced to third on a passed ball, but Blake Dunlap came up with a big strikeout to record the first out of the inning.
DHS head coach Rob Coddington then decided to issue an intentional walk to load the bases to set up a double-play opportunity. The Demons got the groundball they wanted, but it was too deep up the middle, and DHS couldn’t turn the double play, allowing Spellbring to score the walk-off run.
“Dunlap did his job big time, but we had an error and a passed ball to get a guy to third,” Coddington said. “All of those things we can learn from and work on, and we can do our part as coaches to get the team better in those situations.”
DHS opened the scoring when Casey Dunlap led off the third inning with a double. He later scored on a throwing error by Farmington.
The Scorpions answered in the bottom of the third when Lance Lee hit a leadoff home run.
Two innings later, Isiah Mayberry hit a bases-clearing triple to give the Demons a 4-1 lead.
“That was a big hit for us. It was clutch with the bases loaded. He got one over the center fielder’s head to bring ’em all home,” Coddington said.
Ben Wiley was the Demons’ starting pitcher Friday. He lasted six innings and gave up four runs – three earned – while striking out four and walking two.
“He did a good job competing on the mound. He corrected some things from our (game against) Fort Collins and had a nice outing,” Coddington said.
The Demons will return to the diamond at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ricketts Park. DHS will face Los Alamos for third place in the tournament.
“We are looking forward to going out and picking up a win and ending the weekend on a good note to gain momentum going into league next weekend,” Coddington said.
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