One hot performance in Game 1, one bad inning in Game 2.
The Durango High School softball team split a regional doubleheader Friday at Delta, taking the first game 16-2 in five innings before falling 11-8 in the second game.
Rebekah Ford’s grand slam in the first inning got the Demons (3-7, 1-2 Southwestern League) started in a big way, and Durango would add three more in the third and nine runs in the fourth to shut the door on the Panthers (10-3).
Lexy Vidunas, who drove in two runs and scored twice at the plate, picked up the win, allowing two earned runs on six hits in five innings pitched while walking a pair and striking out eight.
Paige Mazur had three RBIs and a pair of hits, and Augusta Brockus drove in three for the Demons, who also got two hits and three runs from Mercy Lashway.
“In the first game, we played really good defense. Lexy Vidunas pitched really well,” DHS head coach Mike Cioppa said.
The Demons held a 3-0 lead through 3½ innings in the finale before the wheels came off. Delta scored 10 times in the fourth inning and once in the sixth, and Durango committed seven errors in the game, some of which helped chase Brockus, the starting pitcher, after 3 2/3 innings.
“It’s exasperating sometimes because we can play so well sometimes, and then when things start to go a little wrong, we haven’t quite learned how to dig deep yet,” Cioppa said.
Durango will try for a regional sweep at 10 a.m. and noon Saturday against Palisade and Grand Junction, respectively.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
