Last season, the Durango High School softball team ended its season by losing eight of its last 10 games. This season, the Demons want to flip the script and end their season in the playoffs.
Head coach Sarah Clair is entering her third season as head coach and she hopes to continue the upward trajectory she’s led the program on. After going 4-17 overall and 1-7 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League in 2023, the team finished 9-14 overall and 1-9 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League last season. Another five-win improvement in 2025 will give the Demons a winning record and most likely get them in the playoffs.
The Demons lost six seniors last year with a lot of those six being starters, including the team’s second best hitter, Molly Best, and third best hitter, Megan Downey.
Durango had tryouts on Monday and had its first practice on Tuesday. The Demons have been working hard well before Monday, with summer workouts and play in the Farmington summer league. Clair said 13 freshmen came out for tryouts and she had the most girls come out in her three-year tenure. The Demons will field a full varsity and JV team.
“I'm really excited,” Clair said. “So far, the girls are hitting the ball really well, which we did well last year. That was definitely our strength. For us, it's always going to come down to defense.”
Defense was a struggle at times last season for the Demons. Durango allowed at least 11 runs in 10 out of the team’s 23 games last season. The Demons went 1-9 in those games.
Clair had her players focus a lot on defense in the infield with bunt and slap coverages. The team also worked in the outfield on catching fly balls.
There will be plenty of new defensive starters, according to Clair, with first time varsity players at shortstop, second base and right field. Clair knows there will be room for growth on the defensive end but she’s excited for her team to make that progress.
Two established players who will help Durango’s defense a lot are sophomore pitcher Abigail Gordon and senior pitcher Jenna Glueck. Both players saw significant time in the circle, with Glueck appearing in 16 games with a 6-7 record and a 6.94 ERA. Gordon appeared in eight games, finished with a 2-4 record and a 9.17 ERA.
“From a strength standpoint, I bet she picked up two or three miles per hour from her freshman year to this year,” Clair said about Gordon. “She's got great movement on her ball too, which is great. She has a great presence out there ,too. You wouldn't know she was a freshman last year and I can see that confidence continuing into her sophomore year, too.”
Clair has a long history with Glueck because she’s been coaching her since she was 7-years-old. Clair has enjoyed seeing her grow as a person with her maturity and leadership and as a pitcher. Glueck has worked very hard in the offseason on her moving pitches and strength.
Leading the Demons hitting will be junior Avery Clair. The coach’s daughter led the team last season with a 0.513 batting average, 39 hits, 37 RBIs and four home runs.
“Avery grew even more,” Clair said. “She's topping off at six-feet-tall now and has gotten stronger. It's wild to watch her … It's something she works really hard at in the offseason. She practically lives at Choice Athletics in the indoor facility all winter and really worked on her strength, as well. I think you'll see it this season with her power in her hitting.”
While Avery is known as a strong hitter, she’d be the first person to acknowledge that defense is her weakness, according to Clair. Avery has worked hard in the spring and summer to improve that.
The Demons have a very interesting schedule. They start the year with a doubleheader on Saturday against Basalt in Grand Junction. Then, Durango has 11 of its next 12 games at home, with the lone road game in that stretch at Montezuma-Cortez on Sept. 9. Durango then ends its season with eight of its final 10 games on the road.
Durango finished fifth out of six teams last season in the 5A/4A Southwestern League. Clair thinks Fruita Monument and Grand Junction Central will be at the top of the league again. Fruita finished last season 9-1 in the league and 21-6 overall while Grand Junction Central finished 8-2 in the league and 18-9 overall.
After the top two, Clair thinks the Demons can compete with Palisade, Grand Junction and Montrose for third place in the league. If Durango does that, the Demons will be in good shape to achieve their goal.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Claur said. “I think we're going to have a winning record and we're going to be back in a playoff game for the first time in a long time. That's our goal; that's what we've talked about at practice.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
