May is here and so are high school playoffs. Before the playoffs began, Durango High School spring sports teams had to finish their regular seasons or begin their playoff journeys.
One of those Durango High School spring sports teams starting the playoffs was girls tennis. The Demons had a great showing at the 4A Region 8 regional in Grand Junction on Thursday, qualifying eight players for individual state and finishing second as a team. That ties the most head coach Darren Tarshis has sent to state since he began coaching the team in 2019.
“They had the potential and had some good positive momentum as a team going into the day,” Tarshis said. “I definitely felt like they had the potential to perform the way they did. But it was an exciting day.”
Durango finished second as a team with 38 points behind Grand Junction with 62 points. Grand Junction Central finished third with 26 points.
Players had to finish in the top two in their position to qualify for state. The Demons had the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in almost every position, so Durango had to outperform its seed in a few positions.
Tarshis said the mindset for the team was not to worry about past results because the Demons had faced their opponents before this season. Tarshis wanted his players to realize they’re different players than at the beginning of the season and so are their opponents, so it was a new match.
The talk paid off as junior Jordan Kitchens, sophomore Natalie Christensen, senior Molly Best, freshman Ella Claassen, senior McKenzie Hayden, junior Madelyn Agre, sophomore Annabeth Hanson and senior Mary Jane Ramos all qualified for states in Pueblo starting on Thursday.
Christensen really impressed, winning the No. 2 singles regional championship as the No. 2 seed. Christensen beat Grand Junction Central’s Sydney Maurer in the semifinals in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 and then beat Anara Munkhtogoo from Grand Junction in the final 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. Tarshis said Christensen had to win 10 out of 11 games in the championship match and he was proud of her mental toughness.
Being a regional singles champion from Durango is rare, according to Tarshis.
“The biggest thing for her is she did a ton of work to prepare for the season,” Tarshis said about Christensen. “She was always on the court, preparing basically from the time she finished regionals last year to this year. So, she played three doubles last year and didn't qualify for state, and shot all the way up to two singles this season and won her region. So just a really athletic player and most importantly, just loves the game, loves being at practice, loves being on the team. I’m really proud of her.”
The other regional champion for Durango came in No. 4 doubles for Hanson and Ramos. That pairing was the No. 1 seed in their position and dominated, beating Montrose’s Annabelle Sanburg and Katelyn King 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals and Grand Junction’s Kendra Tooker and Eliza Bell in the finals, 6-3, 6-2.
Tarshis said Hanson and Ramos did a good job of not letting the tournament get to them as first-time varsity players.
Kitchens finished second in No. 1 singles, beating Grand Junction Central’s Joey Smith in the semifinals, 7-5, 6-3, before losing to Maridie Schmidt in the finals, 7-5, 6-4.
Tarshis was proud of Kitchens for beating Smith in the semifinals; it was Kitchens’ first win over Smith in three years of high school tennis.
Best and Claassen finished second in No. 1 doubles. They beat Elie James and Annabelle Carter from Grand Junction Central, 6-0, 7-6 (9-7) before falling to Grand Junction’s Elle and Grace DeHerrera, 7-5, 6-1 in the finals.
Hayden and Agre finished third in No. 3 doubles but qualified as an alternate.
Baseball beats Montrose for final home win of season
The Durango baseball team sent its seniors off in style with an 8-4 win over Montrose on Saturday.
Durango improved to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League. Montrose fell to 4-17 overall and 0-8 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League.
The Demons started the game with a 3-0 lead after three innings but the Red Hawks responded with four runs in the fourth to take a 4-3 lead.
Like the matchup the previous day, Durango finished strong. Tied 4-4 going into the seventh, the Demons finished the game with four runs in the seventh to win 8-4.
Durango outhit Montrose 10-9. Junior Dawson McInnes had three hits, two runs and three RBIs to lead the Demons. Sophomore Duncan Walsh and junior Austin Romero each had two hits.
McInnes pitched all seven innings for the Demons, allowing nine hits, four runs and striking out five batters.
The Demons hit the road to end the regular season with two games at Palisade. The first game is on Friday at 4 p.m. and the second game is on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Boys lacrosse finishes regular season with 2-1 road trip
The Durango boys lacrosse team solidified its playoff position with a 2-1 record on its final road trip of the season.
First came a forfeit win over Eagle Valley on Friday and then came a real game at Summit on Friday which the Demons won 14-6.
Durango finished the regular season with a 14-8 loss at Telluride on Saturday.
The Demons finished the regular season 6-8 overall and 4-6 in the 4A Mountain League.
On Friday, Durango jumped out to a 9-0 lead at halftime and held on in the second half. Senior JT Munger led the Demons with 10 points (three goals and seven assists). Senior Owen Muraro had four goals and three assists. Senior goalie Alex Gnehm had 26 saves for the Demons.
Against Telluride, the Demons led 4-2 after the first quarter but trailed 8-7 at halftime. Telluride outscored Durango 3-0 in the third and 3-1 in the fourth to pull away. Durango boys lacrosse head coach Valeria Skarbek said her team struggles with penalties against the Miners.
Muraro led the Demons with four goals and an assist while Munger had a goal and four assists. Gnehm finished with 26 saves.
The Demons lost in the first round of the 4A state playoffs to Battle Mountain, 17-4. Check durangoherald.com on Wednesday for a recap of that game.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
