One bad inning cost the Durango Demons a chance at upsetting the No. 1 team in the state.
Durango High School surrendered nine runs in the top of the fourth inning against CHSAANow.com No. 1-ranked Montrose, and that led to a 12-9 loss Friday afternoon at home at Walden Memorial Field.
“That’s part of the game. It is no one guy’s fault, and it never is,” DHS head coach Rob Coddington said of the nine-run inning for Montrose. “The kids fought really well and got after it.”
The Demons took a 5-1 lead after two innings thanks to a triple with a run batted in by Blake Dunlap in the first inning and three RBI singles in the second inning by Casey Dunlap, Lawrence Mayberry and Jeremy Szura.
Montrose scored once in the top of the third, but the Demons matched that run when Riley Jaye drew a bases-loaded walk to score Hayden Sill, who led off the inning with a controversial single on a ball hit down the third-base line – ticketed for two bases – that the third-base umpire ruled foul, the home-plate umpire ruled fair, then they split the difference and put Sill on first.
But the Indians claimed the lead for good in the top of the fourth inning when they sent 14 batters to the plate and scored nine runs on five hits, four walks and two costly DHS errors. After batting around the order against DHS pitcher Ben Wiley, the Indians drew three consecutive walks, and Coddington pulled Wiley and relieved him with Blake Dunlap.
Wiley lasted 3 2/3 innings and gave up 11 runs – seven earned – on seven hits, four walks and two hit batters. He struck out three.
The Demons committed six fielding errors in the game.
“I definitely feel like we should’ve had this one,” said DHS sophomore Lawrence Mayberry, who went 3-for-4 at the plate with his first career home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. “I know it will be in the back of our heads until we can, hopefully, see them again in the playoffs. We could’ve had them, and we have to work on our mistakes.”
DHS cut the Montrose lead to 11-8 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Isiah Mayberry hit a two-run home run that scored Casey Dunlap, but Montrose extended its lead to 12-8 in the sixth inning when Braden Reese scored after two DHS errors. He was trying to steal second base, but nobody was covering the bag, and the throw got past the DHS center fielder to allow Reese to score all the way from first base.
The Demons had success against the first two Montrose pitchers of the game. Starter Cameron LeBlanc went two innings and gave up five earned runs on six hits and a walk. Reliever Jake Miller lasted just one inning and was charged with two runs on Isiah Mayberry’s home run.
But Kyle Freeburg pitched the remaining four innings and held the Demons to just one run on three hits. He struck out four and didn’t issue a walk.
“We were going to use as many guys as we needed, but (Freeburg) came in and shut them down,” Montrose head coach Landon Wareham said. “He was a different enough look for them and did a good job.”
The Indians entered the game on a two-game losing streak, and Wareham was happy to see his team end the skid against a Durango team he called “scary.”
“That’s a good team over there. They swing the bats as good as anybody in the state,” Wareham said of the Demons. “We are proud of the win.”
Blake Dunlap pitched 3 1/3 innings in relief for the Demons. He struck out three and walked one while hitting two batters with pitches. He wasn’t charged with a run while allowing two hits.
Now, the Demons hope to earn some revenge for an 18-17 loss to Fruita Monument when the Wildcats visit at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
“I think we will really start gaining momentum here in the next couple of weeks. We have a lot of good kids working hard, and we are getting good effort out of every one of them,” Coddington said. “We want to keep getting better and give ourselves a shot at the playoffs if we can stack up some more wins.”
That all starts with beating the Wildcats, Lawrence Mayberry said.
“We have to come out and tear up Fruita,” the son of George and Tonya Mayberry said.
jlivingston@durangogherald.com
