Reaching a state championship in high school golf in Colorado comes down to one day. On that day, Durango’s Kyle Pritchard and Luke Tichi made sure they wouldn’t miss out on the last tournament of the year.
The Durango golf team was unable to finish as one of the top-two teams in the 4A Region 4 tournament Monday at The Bridges Golf Club in Montrose. The top two teams in the region and the next 13 individuals outside of those two teams qualified for state.
Pritchard and Tichi did that, as Tichi finished 18th overall with a 10-over-par score of 81. Pritchard finished 19th at 12-over 83.
Tichi made birdie on the first hole and was 1-under through three holes. He finished his front nine at 2-over. The back nine played more difficult for Tichi, but pars on the 11th and 12th helped keep his round together.
Pritchard played better on the back than the front. He made birdie on the par-4 13th to go with a birdie he made on the par-3 4th on the front.
Durango’s Ryaen Genualdi fell just shy of qualifying with a 16-over round. Ethan Whidden finished at 20-over.
Montrose won the team tournament at 3-over. Micah Stangebye tied Evergreen’s Bridger Tenney for the championship at even par. Montrose’s Dawson Hussong added a score of 1-over, and Jordan Jennings was 2-over to give the Indians a dominant showing on their home course.
Evergreen finished second at 4-over to qualify its team for state. Steamboat Springs was well back in third at 28-over. The Demons finished sixth out of 14 teams at 38-over.
Pritchard and Tichi will have more than a week to prepare for the CHSAA Class 4A Boys Golf State Championships, which will be held Oct. 2-3 at Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton.
Softball
SoftballA four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh helped the Demons finish with an unlikely tie against a rival Tuesday.
The Durango High School softball team (7-4-1, 0-2 5A/4A Southwestern League) roared back to tie the game at 13-13 at home against Montezuma-Cortez (2-8-1, 0-4 3A District 5). The game was called early because of darkness. The recently renovated field at DHS does not have lights.
The dugout showdown was as exciting as the action on the field with Chelsea Rodriguez coaching the Panthers and Melissa Fundora leading the Demons. The two were teammates on the Fort Lewis College softball team just three years ago.
Cortez took an early 1-0 lead, but DHS tied it in the bottom of the second. The Panthers exploded for three runs in the third and five in the fourth to take a commanding 9-3 lead going to the fifth. DHS scored three runs in the fifth and three in the sixth before the four-run seventh tied the game.
Alyssa Cornett had five runs batted in for the Panthers on 2-of-5 hitting with a double. She also scored once. Payton Keith drove in two runs and was 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run and two runs. Morgan Short had two doubles during a 3-for-5 day at the plate. She scored three times.
Dannika Noyes pitched four innings for the Panthers and allowed eight hits and two earned runs. She walked two and struck out one. Presely Frost pitched two innings an allowed eight hits, four earned runs and two walks while striking out one.
Stats for DHS were not available.
DHS will host Montrose at 10 a.m. Saturday for a doubleheader.
Volleyball
VolleyballA tough non-league game welcomed the Wolverines on Tuesday in Bayfield.
Bayfield High School’s volleyball team fell 25-23, 17-25, 25-15, 25-18 to the Piedra Vista Panthers of Farmington.
BHS (6-3, 3-0 3A Intermountain League) will host Alamosa on Saturday.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
