The Durango High School softball team had the unenviable task of opening the season against Class 5A Southwestern League foe Grand Junction, and the weight of the task proved too heavy in Game 1 before the load lightened some in Game 2.
DHS fell 13-1 in six innings in the opener before battling for a more compelling 4-2 defeat against the Tigers on Friday in Grand Junction.
Two big innings did in DHS and starting pitcher Lexy Vidunas in the opener, with the Tigers scoring five times in the second inning and four in the sixth. The Demons (0-2, 0-2 SWL) did their damage on Cindy Kobrin’s solo home run in the fourth. Mercy Lashway went 2-for-3 for DHS.
“We had first-game jitters,” first-year DHS head coach Mike Cioppa said. “I thought we played fairly well for not having any scrimmages.”
Durango pitcher Augusta Brockus held the Tigers (2-0, 2-0 SWL) to one run through five innings before Grand Junction busted things open with a three-run sixth inning. DHS scored twice in the seventh before their rally fell short.
Vidunas went 2-for-3 with a run batted in in the second game, while Lashway contributed a pair of hits.
“Gus Brockus pitched for us, and she really stepped up,” Cioppa said.
“The other team made some fantastic defensive plays against us the whole game, then we started making equally fantastic defensive plays.”
DHS will remain in Grand Junction to play Central at 10 a.m. and noon Saturday.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
