As the temperatures rise in springtime in Colorado, the Durango girls golf team continues to shoot low scores.
It was a successful trip to Montrose as the Demons finished first on Monday at Cobble Creek Golf Course and first on Tuesday at Black Canyon Golf Course.
“We've played in a couple of other tournaments and to play back-to-back and then to just play that well and that consistent was good to see,” Durango girls golf head coach Kirk Rawles said.
On Monday, the Demons won at Cobble Creek with a team score of 257. Montezuma-Cortez finished second with a score of 270.
Junior Ellie White won the tournament on Monday with a career-low 78. Sophomore Jayden Craig was sixth with an 89, freshman Dylan Livingston was seventh with a 90 and junior Raimee Brant finished eighth with a 91.
White had eight pars, a birdie and her first-ever eagle with a three on a par 5 during her round of 78 on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Demons finished first with a 254 at Black Canyon. Montezuma-Cortez finished second with a 261.
Brant finished tied for third with a personal-low 81. Craig shot an 85 and finished fifth. White finished seventh with an 88 and Livingston finished eighth with an 89. Sophomore Riley Harms shot a personal-best 101 on Tuesday too.
“She hits the ball really solid,” Rawles said about Brant. “She doesn’t hit it very far off the tee and she's pretty good with her irons. They're all working on putting but I think for her, it's just confidence knowing she can do it. think the more that she does it, then her expectations are going to change. But she's put a lot of time and effort in and a lot of hard work.”
Durango girls golf is back in action on Monday at Hillcrest Golf Club for the Demons’ home tournament.
Baseball wins two different games against Pagosa Springs
The Demons baseball team put on a show for their fans in Durango’s first home game of the season on Tuesday and beat Pagosa Springs 11-1.
A much harder game happened during the second game against the Pirates on Tuesday afternoon. The Demons trailed 5-2 after the sixth inning and came back to win 6-5.
After the two wins, Durango improved to 8-4 overall and Pagosa Springs fell to 4-6 with the losses.
“It was really good to see in both games the team competing all the way through,” Durango baseball head coach Austin Anderson said. “The biggest thing was it was good to see so many people out at the games and the community and school involved. Throughout the first game, we really fed off the energy and the atmosphere of being at home.”
In the first game, Durango jumped out to a 7-1 lead after three innings and added on four runs in the sixth.
Sophomore Landin Padilla went 4-4 and scored two runs and had three RBIs. Senior Ian Szura, sophomore Dawson McInnes and senior Kameron Lucero each had two hits.
“He's a great hitter,” Anderson said about Padilla. “He can drive it to all parts of the field. He's got a good eye. He knows what his strike zone is, which is one of the biggest things in high school is not reaching outside of your zone. Even though we're only halfway through the season, we've seen him grow so much just at the knowledge of the game and his strike zone.”
Cully Feeney pitched three innings and had two strikeouts. Sophomore Austin Romero pitched six innings and had three strikeouts.
In the second game, Pagosa Springs took a 2-1 lead after three innings and then took a 4-2 lead into the sixth before Durango came back for the win.
Both sophomores Dylan Burns and McInnes went 3-4 for the Demons. Feeney pitched three innings and had two strikeouts, Padilla pitched two innings and junior Jack Englund pitched two innings and had four strikeouts.
“It was one of those games where you just had to keep chipping away and the players did really well,” Anderson said. “Every inning maybe didn't go our way and we had to battle through some adversity and we overcame a lot that game.”
Durango is back in action next Friday at home against Grand Junction at 3 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
