The Durango High School baseball team has taken its share of lumps this season. After dropping the first end of a doubleheader Saturday to Montrose, Peyton Woolverton, Jacob Bourdon and company had enough.
The Demons committed four errors and didn’t give starting pitcher Tyler Ruetschle much help in an 8-5 loss to start the day. However, Woolverton got the call on the mound in Game 2 and was dominant for most of the day against a strong Montrose squad. The senior was nearly unhittable for five innings, and the offense got behind him to build a six-run lead. The Indians (9-4, 1-1 5A/4A Southwestern League) fought back, but Durango (4-10, 1-3 SWL) held them off to win an 8-6 game that was much closer than it seemed.
“I was just trusting my pitches and challenging their hitters,” Woolverton said. “That’s kind of our philosophy. We have a heck of a defense and I just try to throw strikes and let them make plays. I was getting a lot of swings and misses (Saturday) and that’s just a bonus.”
Bourdon led the Game 2 charge at the plate, as he went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly, three runs batted in and a run scored. Mark Lamoreaux finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base, and Dakota Padoven was 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored.
Durango fell behind 4-0 in the first game of the day. The hosts cut the deficit to 4-3 with three runs in the fourth inning before Montrose pulled away to a three-run victory. Padoven, Ruetschle and Woolverton each had two hits in the loss. Ruetschle gave up seven runs, four earned in five innings. He walked five and struck out six.
The three unearned runs cost DHS the game in the opener, but the second game was a reversal of fortune.
The Demons were the Game 2 visitors, and Bourdon provided an early lead with an RBI single in the top of the second inning. Gavin Mestas made it a two-run lead with a single in the third that plated Lamoreaux. Durango added two in the fourth and two in the fifth, as the Indians committed some defensive blunders that allowed DHS to build a lead that seemed insurmountable with Woolverton baffling the opponents’ bats.
Through five innings, the Durango ace had allowed just one hit and struck out eight Montrose batters. However, the sixth inning became a bit unsettling for a team that hasn’t had the best of luck this season in close games.
The frame started ominously with two errors committed on the first three batters of the inning. The Indians took advantage of the miscues and strung together three consecutive hits en route to a four-run inning.
“It’s tough when they start coming back and then their fans get into it and the dugout gets rowdy,” Bourdon said. “I trust our pitchers to be able to get that next out. Peyton got it done, and it was great to see the offense get some insurance for him.”
Woolverton threw six strong innings and gave up four runs, only one of which was earned. The tall right-hander struck out 10, walked two and allowed just four hits.
Padoven’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Ryan Genualdi produced two critical DHS runs in the top of the seventh, because the Montrose offense wasn’t finished.
Durango coach Eric Baker chose to go with Gavin Mestas with a four-run lead in the last half inning. Mestas got the first two outs of the inning but a hit batsman, and a walk set up a two-run triple by Dustin Boone that brought the tying run to the plate. Boone led Montrose with a double and a triple with three RBIs and two runs scored in Game 2. It wasn’t enough to pull his team through, however.
Mestas fielded a comebacker to record the final out, and the Demons breathed a sigh of relief as they snapped a six-game Montrose winning streak with the afternoon win.
“The middle of the Montrose lineup is really tough, and I think Peyton was as sharp as I’ve ever seen him out there,” Baker said. “But, high school baseball can get crazy in a hurry. Sometimes things don’t go your way and you just have to find a way to shut that off. We haven’t been able to stop the bleeding at times this season, so it was good to see the guys get it done.”
Durango will try to keep the wins coming at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Palisade.
jfries@durangoherald.com
