Upsets riddled the Class 4A state tournament bracket Saturday.
Durango High School made sure it wouldn’t be one of the victims.
The seventh-seeded Durango Demons (13-8) beat No. 26 Eagle Valley 3-1 and No. 10 Ponderosa 11-2 on Saturday to win Class 4A District 6 and reach the elite eight of the Colorado High School Activities Association Baseball State Championships.
“The guys played relaxed, and it was good to see,” DHS head coach Rob Coddington said. “We have hosted district tournaments a couple of other times, and we had some good teams here (Saturday). But our guys battled all year to get here, and if there is anything they are prepared for, it is going back up to Denver for the elite eight.”
On a day in which No. 1 Montrose, No. 2 Windsor, No. 4 Delta and No. 5 Pueblo East all lost, the Demons emerged as the third-best seed still alive in the tournament behind No. 3 Valor Christian and No. 6 Wheat Ridge.
“The tournament definitely is wide open. We still are going to have to play solid to have success because good teams are still in it, but we will see what we can do to keep this going,” DHS senior Blake Dunlap said.
Blake Dunlap earned the win on the mound in the district championship game against Ponderosa (10-11), who beat the No. 23-seeded Rifle 2-1 in eight innings in the semifinal game.
Blake Dunlap pitched six innings and allowed only two runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked two while hitting one batter with a pitch.
“I didn’t pitch my team to the win; it was the guys behind me on defense doing their job,” said Blake Dunlap, son of Aaron and Julie Dunlap. “We just played a solid game. With a nine-run lead, it was nice and relaxing out there.”
Blake Dunlap’s brother, Casey Dunlap, closed out the seventh inning for the Demons, limiting Ponderosa to one hit and nothing more.
The Demons torched the Ponderosa Mustangs early and often. DHS chased Ponderosa ace pitcher Bryan King after just two-plus innings of work.
It started in the bottom of the first inning when Casey Dunlap delivered a two-out double that scored Lawrence Mayberry and Jeremy Szura, and it continued when the Demons put up four runs in each of the second and third innings.
Isiah Mayberry hit a big three-run double in the second inning, and Lawrence Mayberry drove in a run of his own with a double down the left-field line.
“My teammates put me in position to do what I do best and help out my team,” said Isiah Mayberry, son of George and Tonya Mayberry. “To score those guys was big for us.”
Casey Dunlap led off the third inning with a walk and advanced to second on a balk call. He scored on a single by designated hitter Hayden Sill, who was 2-for-4 in the game. Tyler Worley followed with a walk, and Ponderosa pulled King at that point, relieving him with Eric Tokuyama.
Chris Jaworsky was the first batter Tokuyama faced. Jaworsky laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached on a throwing error, allowing Sill and Worley to score.
That seemed to be the breaking point for Ponderosa.
The Demons drew 12 free passes in the game, whether via walk or hit-by-pitch.
“Durango swings it very well. They are a talented team, and I know (King) is better than what he showed. We put ourselves in too many jams,” Ponderosa head coach Jarod Nicholson said. “To Durango’s credit, they capitalized on us not throwing strikes.”
DHS tacked on one more run in the fourth inning when Szura was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The lone loss on the day for Durango came in the bottom of the sixth inning when senior left fielder Riley Jaye went down with a knee injury. He hit a groundball to shortstop but instantly went down in the batter’s box clutching his knee. He left the game putting no weight on the leg and was on crutches after the game.
The Demons will face No. 15 Longmont at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Cherokee Trail in Aurora. The tournament now will move to a double-elimination format for the elite eight.
“We are going to need three or four pitchers for that first weekend, so some guys are going to have to step up,” Coddington said. “We have been there before and know how to prepare for it. We hope that experience will guide us.”
Isiah Mayberry said the key to success will be continuing to have fun on the diamond.
“We have been there before, so we aren’t too ecstatic with just getting there,” he said. “We need to keep playing hard and keep having fun together. We will love every moment.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
Demons ride Mayberry into their title shot
Clean defense and timely hitting powered the Durango Demons past the Eagle Valley Devils on Saturday morning.
Playing their first game of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A District 6 baseball tournament, the No. 7 Demons (12-8) claimed a 3-1 victory against the No. 26 Devils (10-9-1) at Ray Walden Memorial Field at Durango High School.
Three runs were plenty of run support for DHS starting pitcher Lawrence Mayberry. The sophomore pitched the complete game, allowing only four hits and striking out five. He walked one and hit three Eagle Valley batters with pitches. He was charged with the Devils’ lone run.
“Lawrence pumped a lot of strikes and gave his defense the chance to work behind him. He did a great job out there of going at guys and throwing strikes,” Coddington said.
Lawrence Mayberry said he gained confidence in knowing the team trusted him with the ball in a win-or-go-home situation.
“I felt so good with all my teammates believing in me. It helped me just pump strikes, and that’s what I do best,” he said. “It all came to me very easy. I wasn’t rushing at all, just throwing strikes and letting my defense have fun.”
Eagle Valley head coach Jesse Meryhew credited both Mayberry and his starting pitcher, Travis Edgar, for jobs well done.
“Their pitcher pitched great, but their defense made plays when they had to,” Meryhew said. “We put the ball in play, and Durango made all the plays.”
The Demons struck first in the morning game with one run in the bottom of the first inning. Jeremy Szura got things started with a single and a stolen base to get into scoring position. Blake Dunlap then drove him home with a single.
Eagle Valley answered with one run in the top of the second inning, when an Eric Boyd single drove in Edgar, who led off the inning with a single of his own.
It didn’t take the Demons long to reclaim a one-run lead. In the bottom of the second inning, Tyler Worley led off with a single, and he advanced to second on a passed ball. Hayden Sill then came through with a single to score Worley from second base.
The game remained 2-1 in favor of Durango until the Demons picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, Dunlap was hit by a pitch to put speed on the bases. Isiah Mayberry then hit a line drive to right field for a triple, scoring Dunlap easily to give the Demons a 3-1 lead.
Edgar was charged with all three Durango runs. He pitched all six innings for Eagle Valley, striking out one and walking two while hitting one batter with a pitch. The Demons tallied seven hits.
“We know Durango is a solid club that can bang the ball around,” Meryhew said. “(Edgar) has been an outstanding pitcher for us all season. He had good command, and to hold Durango to three runs is unheard of; they usually score 10 to 12.”
The Demons played flawless defense behind Lawrence Mayberry in a game played without an error by either team.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
