A walk-off grand slam capped a stellar road trip to Durango for the Fruita Monument High School softball team. But not even the slam could dampen the spirits of the host Demons in the home opener.
Bailey Bingham belted a curveball over the middle of the plate beyond the left center field fence at Durango High School to give the Wildcats a 16-0 run-rule victory in three innings of Game 2 of Saturday’s 5A/4A Southwestern League doubleheader. It helped the Wildcats sweep the day after a 13-1 victory in four innings in the first game.
“It was over the middle, and I hit it out,” said Bingham, a freshman. “It’s exciting; it’s my first high school home run.”
The Wildcats (3-0) got the best of a short-handed Demons team Saturday in the home opener of the shortened season for DHS on Saturday. Walks and some defensive miscues proved costly for DHS (0-3). But DHS head coach John Bernazzani was pleased with his team’s ability to make in-game adjustments at the plate
“It’s really good to beat a program like Durango. John does a really good job with them,” said Fruita Monument head coach Adam Diaz. “Love their heart. They never gave up and have a lot of fight in them. We have four or five freshmen, and our rookies came through against in-league rivals in their backyard. That was big for us.”
Telling was the attitude of the DHS squad, which is made up of players from five high schools with Animas, Bayfield, Durango, Ignacio and Silverton all represented in the Demons’ red and black.
“It’s awesome to get to know girls from other schools I wouldn’t get to know any other way,” said DHS junior pitcher Sydney Flores.
Bernazzani said players arrived more than two hours prior to first pitch Saturday to help set up the field and seating areas for spectators, who have been moved down the left and right field lines at DHS this season to help promote social distancing at the field and within the immediate dugout areas of the teams.
Many of the players participated at every summer workout the team held. Bernazzani believes it is only a matter of time before the hard work on and off the field translates into wins. He hopes that is the case as early as Thursday, as DHS will look to rediscover its 2019 form in which the Demons picked up a rare sweep of Grand Junction with wins of 14-13 and 9-6 at home. Thursday, the Demons will travel to face Grand Junction before another Saturday home game against Palisade.
“We hope to improve every time out,” Bernazzani said. “It’s tough to drop two in your home opener, but the girls are just happy to be playing in this environment. They can’t wait to get back out Monday and work on the plan we have in place.
“Attitudes are great, and team unity has certainly improved. Though we drop the home opener, the girls are happy with the way they improved, and they kept each other up.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and sweeping schedule changes from the Colorado High School Activities Association, the Demons will play only 13 games this regular season after they played 23 a year earlier. For many of the young players – Durango has only three seniors on the varsity roster – this season is about coming together to improve skills with an eye on 2021. Bernazzani has been pleased with a culture change since he took over the Demons once more in 2019. The next step is to have that translate onto the diamond.
“We just need to keep playing and keep gelling,” DHS senior captain Lily Longan said. “Communication is key for us and our game.”
With no football this fall and a long break since March without high school sports, Longan said the Demons hope Durango fans will get behind the team this season.
“It feels so good just to have the opportunity to play during this time,” Longan said. “We want to give something to our community for them to watch and cheer for.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
