The fact that a baseball game was played Friday in Durango was a feat itself.
After two lightning delays stopped play before it started and three hours worth of waiting, Durango and Grand Junction Central took the field with little optimism that a seven-inning game could be finished. Thanks to good defense and solid pitching, the game went by in a hurry, and Demons’ ace Andrew Selser was the key to the swift pace.
The stocky, senior right-hander threw 84 pitches in a complete game effort that took 1 hour, 36 minutes to play. He gave up nine hits, three runs, struck out four and walked one, as Durango won a well-played ballgame 4-3.
The win was a big improvement for Durango, as the Warriors embarrassed the Demons in a 14-0 loss a year ago.
“Those guys are good hitters, and we remember what they did to us last year,” said Selser, son of Linda and Rick Selser. “I was really locating my fastball, and the guys made plays behind me. It’s a big win for us.”
Selser also knocked in the game’s winning run with a third-inning single that scored Peyton Woolverton. Demons’ senior slugger Kyle Duran started the third-inning rally with a towering home run to center field, and Woolverton piled on with a triple that scored Lawrence Mayberry, who scored two of Durango’s four runs.
“I’m really liking what I see out of our team right now,” said Mayberry, son of George and Tonya Mayberry. “We’re getting better every day, and the hard work is paying off. We truly believe in each other on offense and defense, and that’s huge.”
Mayberry and Gavin Mestas gobbled up everything that was hit to the left side of the infield, and Selser poured in strike after strike knowing the guys behind him would get the job done.
Durango (6-5, 3-0 5A/4A Southwestern League) blew a big opportunity to go ahead early, as Warriors starter Jason Holmes had a rough opening inning after the delays. Holmes issued three walks, hit a batter and saw another reach on an error in the first inning, but the Demons came away with just one run.
Grand Junction Central (7-5, 2-1 5A/4A SWL) tied the game with a ringing two-out double by nine-hole hitter Koby Steves, but Selser did well all day in limiting the damage.
Unfortunately, Holmes couldn’t limit the damage in the third inning.
Duran started the decisive rally as he unloaded on an 0-2 fastball to lead off the inning with a home run and rattle the Warriors hurler.
“I was just looking for something I could hit solid and drive,” said Duran, son of Billie Jo and Adrian Duran. “Lucky for me it ended up in my wheelhouse, and I made him pay for it.”
The Warriors battled back with two runs in the fifth inning after a Trey Garcia triple scored Seth Barker. Garcia was a thorn in Selser’s side. He went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with two singles, a double and a triple. He scored later in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to cut Central’s deficit to one.
Selser kept them there, however. The senior breezed through the final two innings and made a sparkling play on the mound to record the game’s final out.
“Andrew did it all for us (Friday), and did it against a really good hitting team,” Durango head coach Eric Baker said. “He kept them off-balance really well and threw a ton of strikes. It helps when our defense plays like it did (Friday).”
Shortly after the teams shook hands, the skies opened up again and dumped rain on an already saturated Durango High School field. The two teams are scheduled to play at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and the game has been moved to Ignacio High School.
jfries@durangoherald.com
