The Durango Demons plated nine runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined to take down the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers, 11-0, on Tuesday in Durango.
Durango got to Panthers’ starter Jasen Engel early when junior first baseman Peyton Woolverton drove a single to left field to give the Demons a 2-0 first-inning lead.
Engel settled in nicely, however, holding Durango scoreless until a parade of Demons came to the plate in the fourth inning.
In the last game Montezuma-Cortez played, it put up an 11-run fourth on the way to a 20-2 wipeout of Dove Creek.
Durango gave the Panthers (3-6, 0-1 Southwestern League) a dose of their own medicine in Tuesday’s fourth.
The Demons finally broke the game open with a five-run fourth inning that forced M-CHS head coach to replace Engel with Cordell Ridings and took the energy out of the Panthers’ dugout.
Up 7-0 and smelling blood, the Demons put the visitors away in the fifth.
For the second inning in a row, Durango’s Zach Szura led off with a triple to start another rally
Also, for the second consecutive inning, pitcher Andrew Selser helped himself with another RBI single, and senior Kyle Duran finished the job. This time, a ringing double down the left-field line brought in Duran’s third and fourth RBIs of the day and, more importantly, extended the Durango lead to 11-0 and ended the game.
“They were hitting the ball well,” Greenlee said. “And early on, we were making the plays, but we just didn’t make plays late in the game. Two of our three errors came late and in critical situations and put us behind.”
The Panthers also struggled offensively, ending the game with a goose egg on the scoreboard and just three hits.
Cutter Mathews provided two of the hits, going 2-for-2 on the day, and senior Andrew Laymon added the only other hit, finishing 1-for-3.
Selser went all five innings on the mound for Durango, finishing with six strikeouts and two walks in the shutout.
“He was definitely a good pitcher, but we just didn’t adjust,” Greenlee continued. “We just didn’t make the adjustment, and that’s pretty much it.”
The Panthers will get a chance for revenge though, as the Demons travel to McAndrew Field in Cortez on Friday for another contest.
“We definitely have to play different,” Greenlee said anticipating the rematch. “It wasn’t the same team I’d seen the three games prior, like I said, we didn’t make the adjustments.”
“We’re going to go into it the same as we have every other game,” he continued. “We’ve got a team with the ability to do it, we’ve just got to do it.”