The bats stayed hot and Durango High School’s pitching staff was sharp in a lopsided road win Friday in Alamosa.
Durango High School (3-4) won a third consecutive game Friday, this time on the road in an 18-6 victory against the Alamosa Mean Moose (2-5). Durango tallied 15 hits and committed only one fielding error defensively, and that came to the delight of head coach John Bernazzani.
“We were near perfect defensively, and we have really been working on our defense,” Bernazzani said. “We also produced a lot of runs with two outs, so that was great to see.”
Durango jumped out to a 10-1 lead after three innings, but the Moose scratched out five runs in the fifth inning to extend the game. DHS would add four runs each in the sixth and seventh innings to put the game away.
“Their relief pitcher struggled a bit, and our relief pitching came through nicely,” Bernazzani said.
Mia Baguskas was big at the plate once more for DHS. She was 3-for-5 with four runs batted in, including a three-run triple that would have gone for a homer on a regulation high school softball field. Alamosa plays on a recreation softball field with the fence 275 feet away.
Sydney Flores also would have homered in the game, but she had to settle for a double. Still, she went 2-for-3 with five RBIs.
Also for DHS, Meah Morticai was 2-for-4 with a double and four runs scored. Teagan Kehm stayed hot at the plate, as she went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Two of her hits were doubles. Byrn Valdez also went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Kehm took the win in the pitcher’s circle. She went 5 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits but only one run. She struck out five and walked two. Sylvia Reyes came on in relief and last 2/3 of an inning. She allowed two hits and walked two. Five runs crossed against her, but only three were earned. Sydney Flores came on to close the game. She struck out two and didn’t allow a hit or a walk.
Bernazzani said the work of new pitching coach Nicole Johnson is paying off, with the pitchers throwing more variety of pitches and moving the ball around well while limiting walks.
DHS (1-3 5A/4A Southwestern League) will return to its home field at noon and 2 p.m. Saturday for a tough league doubleheader with Grand Junction Central (2-2, 1-0 SWL).
“It’s going to be a tough one,” Bernazzani said. “It was a tough, three-hour game in the heat of the San Luis Valley today in Alamosa. The girls are going to have to get up early and get ready to play a really tough couple of games.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
