The Durango All-Stars will go to the Little League state tournament after the 10-and-under team rolled through the District 4 tournament with an unblemished record.
Durango blew out the competition in District 4, which is made up of Bayfield, Cortez, Durango and Ignacio, and outscored its opponents 42-13 in three games at the district tournament, which was held in Durango.
Durango blasted Cortez 16-1 in its first game of the tournament, then cruised by Ignacio 18-8 to earn a spot in the title game. Cortez beat Ignacio to get a rematch with Durango, this time for the title, but Durango proved too much for Cortez in an 8-4 victory.
In the first game against Cortez, Durango did most of its damage in the third inning, when the All-Stars scored 12 runs.
Durango notched 12 hits in the game, with Dylan Burns, Grady Feeney and Gavin Zuber all recording multiple hits.
Against Ignacio, Durango racked up 19 hits and used a big fourth inning to break an 8-8 tie and secure the victory.
Ignacio scored twice in the top of the fourth to tie the game, but Durango piled up hits and runs and scored 10 runs in the inning.
Brady Hoerl led the way at the plate. He went 4-for-4 with three singles and a double. Burns, Cooper Mitchell and Zuber also finished with multiple hits in the win.
In the rematch with Cortez, Durango took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning to take control and didn’t commit an error in the field en route to the victory.
Burns, Hoerl and Archer McCrosky provided RBIs in the win.
Five players – Burns, Feeney, Hoerl, Mitchell and Zuber – recorded multiple hits in the game. The team combined for 14 hits.
Zuber got the win on the mound for Durango after he pitched three innings. He gave up three runs on six hits and struck out six batters against zero walks.
The team is coached by Brian Beal, Mike Brown and Jon Hoerl.
Durango will play Fruita All-Stars, the District 1 representative, in the first round of the double-elimination state tournament. The game is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Mission Viejo Park in Aurora.
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