Montrose had won nine games in a row until the Durango High School Demons arrived in town Friday.
The DHS baseball team posted five runs in the top of the first inning and didn’t slow down in a 10-7 road win against the 10th-ranked Montrose High School Indians (9-3, 0-1 5A/4A Southwestern League).
“It was a really impressive performance,” said DHS head coach Eric Baker. “We jumped out to a big lead and played a good game. It wasn’t very great weather conditions, windy and cold and not what you think about for playing baseball, but the guys came out and buckled down and played hard and got 15 hits.”
DHS (6-4, 1-2 SWL) received a couple of big hits in the first from Max Hyson and Gavin Mestas to help plate the runs. The Demons added two runs in the second and three in the fifth to round out the scoring.
Montrose answered with two runs in the first and one in the second, but was held scoreless until a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh. Still, freshman closer Gage Mestas was able to buckle down and secure the final outs of the game to preserve the win.
“Nobody stopped believing right then when they started getting those runs,” Baker said. “It’s not like they came in and beat Gage up, they just hit it to few spots just out of our reach. Gage, for a freshman, hung in there really well. He’s a pretty icy kid.”
Gage Mestas pitched the final 1 1/3 innings in relief of his older brother, senior Gavin Mestas. Gage allowed five hits and four runs, three of which were earned. He walked one.
Gavin Mestas went 5 2/3 innings before reaching the pitch count limit. He allowed four hits, three runs that were all earned and he walked five but struck out seven.
“Gavin is a competitor, and when you’re a senior you just really develop to the point where you can be super tough,” Baker said. “Darn, he really can be tough, and he was today in those conditions.”
DHS had four doubles in the game, and Ryan Genualdi had two of them. Gavin Mestas and Gus Kidd added the other doubles. Hyson went 1-for-4 with two runs batted in and a run scored. Quelan Mestas also drove in tow runs and scored one on a 1-for-4 day at the plate. Keegan D’Aleo stayed hot at the plate, as he went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Gage Mestas was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run, and Gavin Mestas led the team with three hits in five plate appearances, as he added a RBI and a run. Genualdi drove in a run and scored once to go with his two doubles.
Dawson Marcum also had a two-hit day with two runs scored and a RBI. Jordan Woolverton, a freshman back from a broken arm suffered during basketball, was 1-for-4 with a RBI and a run.
DHS will meet Montrose again at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and will look to complete the sweep of the other 4A team in the league. Fynn Hyson will start on the mound for the Demons.
“We will come out and hopefully squeak another one out here,” Baker said. “It would be a huge benefit for us. Montrose is ranked this week and had won nine in a row until now. The boys feel pretty good about that.”
Boys Lacrosse
Boys LacrosseAfter a seven-plus hour road trip to Denver, the Durango High School boys lacrosse team showed no signs of the long road trip, as the Demons rolled past Kennedy 19-4 Friday night at All City Stadium.
“It’s our first overnight road trip and it was a good game after rolling off the bus after a seven-and-a-half hour bus drive,” DHS head coach John Robinette said.
The Demons (5-2) jumped out to a 9-1 lead on Kennedy (0-8) after the first quarter and pushed the lead to 17-1 at halftime. The second half saw DHS pull its starters to get playing time for its younger players.
Robinette said the Demons played a balanced game with multiple players finding the net, and they got a strong performance from Harrison Kairalla winning faceoffs and Liam Farkas had several ground balls for the Demons.
Individual stats were not available.
DHS will close out the road trip against Bishop Machebeuf (2-5) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bishop Machebeuf High School.
The DHS girls lacrosse team (1-8) fell to Palmer High School (1-7) 6-2 Friday in Colorado Springs.
The DHS girls will play at Denver North (3-5) at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Girls Soccer
Girls SoccerAnother windy game hit Bayfield High School’s soccer team in the face Friday, but head coach Jen Moore was much more pleased coming off the field Friday than she was Tuesday after a loss to Pagosa Springs.
Alamosa beat the BHS Wolverines 2-1 on Friday at Wolverine Country Stadium in Bayfield.
“It’s hard to be mad when I feel we controlled the game,” Moore said. “We played really well. It didn’t bounce our way with the wind, and there’s some things we could have done better, but we were worlds better than Tuesday when we came out and tossed the ball around. Tonight, we came out as a team, and that’s what we had worked on the last two days. We didn’t get the result, but we plan to get that back next week at Alamosa.”
BHS (3-4, 1-2 3A Region 5) scored first in the 30th minute, as freshman Halle Loveday blasted a left-footed shot in the box past the Alamosa goalkeeper.
“It was bouncing in the box, came her to her left foot, and she’s so talented and can hit it with either foot,” Moore said. “She put it in the back of the net, and there was no way the Alamosa keeper was stopping it.”
Alamosa (7-1, 4-0 3A Region 5) got second-half goals from Alana Hackett and Amanda Parkins.
Lana McKee was in goal for BHS, and Moore estimated she made six or seven saves.
BHS will play at Montezuma-Cortez (2-7, 0-6 3A Region 5) next Friday before the rematch next Saturday at Alamosa.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
