Durango pitcher Andrew Selser couldn’t wait to get back on the mound again after his last start.

After two good outings to begin the season, the senior struggled against Denver North in his previous outing.

On Tuesday, Selser officially put the bad day behind him with an all-around gem against Montezuma-Cortez. The right-hander gave up three hits, struck out six batters and walked two in a five-inning, 11-0 Durango shutout of Montezuma-Cortez. He was also 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs batted in.

“Andrew did on the mound what he’s been doing all year,” Durango head coach Eric Baker said. “He was getting ahead and attacking the hitters and keeping the batters off balance.”

Lawrence Mayberry was a line drive machine at the plate for Durango. The senior shortstop was 3-for-3 with three doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Fellow senior Zach Szura was 2-for-3 with two triples and Kyle Duran was 2-for-4 with four RBIs in the win.

Durango got to Panthers’ starter Jason Engel early when junior first baseman Peyton Woolverton drove a single to left field to give the Demons a 2-0 first-inning lead.

Engel settled in nicely, however, and matched Selser pitch for pitch until a parade of Demons came to the plate in the fourth inning. In the last game Montezuma-Cortez played, it put up an 11-run fourth on the way to a 20-2 wipeout of Dove Creek. Durango gave the Panthers (3-6, 0-1 Southwestern League) a dose of their own medicine in Tuesday’s fourth.

With Selser cruising on the mound, Durango (4-5, 1-0 5A/4A Southwestern League) finally broke the game open with a five-run fourth inning that chased Engel and took the energy out of the Panthers’ dugout.

The pitcher helped his own cause with an RBI single driving in Szura after his triple led off the big inning.

Max Hyson, Gavin Mestas and Kyle Duran followed with singles and a Mayberry RBI double closed out decisive inning.

“I feel good up there and it was good to see all of us get going the way we can,” said Mayberry, son of George and Tonya Mayberry. “Once we get focused and get going feeding off each other, we’re a different kind of team. We have the ability to put up those big innings and it was nice to get a few of those.”

Up 7-0 and smelling blood, the Demons put the visitors away in the fifth. For the second inning in a row, Szura led off with a triple to start another rally.

“I was looking for something in my wheelhouse and he put it there,” said Szura, son of Kari and Matt Szura. “Luckily, I was able to make some good contact and I just kept running.”

Also, for the second consecutive inning, Selser helped his cause with another RBI single and Duran finished the job.

This time, a ringing double down the left-field line brought in Duran’s third and fourth RBIs of the day and, more importantly, extended the Durango lead to 11-0 and ended the game.

Though it was the offense that provided the two big innings, Selser’s performance on the mound kept the Demons in the game until the bats finally broke through.

“It felt good to bounce back and come out on top,” Selser, son of Linda and Rick Selser, said. “We finally found some holes on offense and we kept them off the scoreboard on defense so it was a good team win.”

Cutter Matthews had two of the three Panthers’ hits.

Durango and Montezuma-Cortez will play again at 4 p.m. Friday in Cortez.

jfries@durangoherald.com