There was plenty of celebrating after Durango High School baseball’s regional title in front of its home fans on Saturday, but Demons head coach Masen Hibbeler reminded his team in front of the scoreboard that there’s another title out there.
The Demons’ 5-4 win over Cheyenne Mountain on Saturday afternoon meant they advanced to the eight-team 4A double-elimination state tournament for the second consecutive season, starting on Friday.
Unlike last year when Durango upset its way to the state tournament, the Demons are supposed to be here this year. Durango was ranked No. 3 in 4A going into regionals, and now the Demons are No. 2 in the state bracket after No. 2 Golden was upset in regionals.
Durango’s state journey begins on Friday at 9:30 a.m. against No. 7 Holy Family at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Durango is looking for its first state-playoff win since 2014. Last season, the No. 7-seeded Demons had a 5-0 lead on No. 2 Falcon before losing, 6-5. Durango then lost in the consolation bracket to Cheyenne Mountain, 9-1, to finish its season.
Holy Family enters the matchup 16-9 overall, and it finished 7-6 in the 5A/4A Granite Peaks League in the regular season. The Tigers made the state tournament after they were seeded 11th and competed in the 4A Region 6 regional. Holy Family beat No. 27 Pueblo East, 2-1, in the first round before upsetting No. 6 Lutheran, 9-1, in the championship game.
The Tigers started their season 4-0, before a mediocre stretch. Then, their season went into free fall with a five-game losing streak at the end of April and early May. Since then, they haven’t lost and are on a six-game winning streak.
Durango and Holy Family have had a few common opponents so far this season. Both teams lost to Palisade by one, lost a game to Grand Junction Central and lost to Falcon.
The Tigers will have to break the Demons’ defensive hot streak. Durango hasn’t allowed 10+ runs in a game since its 16-10 loss to Grand Junction Central on April 11. Since then, Durango has only allowed four runs or more in two of the next 11 games.
To score some runs on Durango, Holy Family will likely rely on its top two hitters. Junior Eddie Hill (No. 23) leads the team with a 0.459 batting average. Not far behind him is senior Britain Fox (No. 2) with a 0.457 batting average and a team-high 37 hits. Fellow senior Brady Anderson (No. 8) is the team’s power hitter with a team-high four home runs and 35 RBIs.
Holy Family relies on three pitchers. Junior Austin Mireiter (No. 16) is the team’s best starter with a 5-1 record, a 1.80 ERA and 87 strikeouts. Sophomore Kaden Hopkin (No. 11) has a 4-3 record with a 3.98 ERA and 59 strikeouts. Junior Nolan Brunner (No. 22) is 4-2 as a starter with a 2.79 ERA and 45 strikeouts.
The winner of this matchup will face the winner of No. 3 Falcon and No. 6 Canon City on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at UCCS. The loser will enter the first round of the consolation bracket.
Falcon is 19-4 overall and finished 6-2 against the 4A/3A CSML North League in the regular season The Falcons advanced to the state tournament by beating Montrose, 5-4, and Pueblo South, 9-8, in the 4A Region 4 regional championship.
Durango and Falcon have already matched up this season, with the Falcons controlling the Demons with a 16-6 victory on March 28. It was Durango’s largest loss to a Colorado school this season. The Falcons’ defense has been stellar this season, with eight runs being the most they have allowed in a game this season.
Falcon’s hitting has been outstanding, with seven players hitting over 0.400 this season. Senior Aaron Jaquez (No. 4) has been hitting an outstanding 0.667 this season with 50 hits and 42 RBIs. Fellow senior Ethan Gentz (No. 2) is second on the team with a .500 batting average, and he leads the team with six home runs.
Jaquez is also the team’s top pitcher with 5-1 record, a 2.60 ERA and 56 strikeouts.
Canon City enters the state tournament 23-3 overall, and it went 9-1 in the 4A/3A CSML South League. Canon City enters the state tournament after it beat Silver Creek, 1-0, and Roosevelt, 6-1, to win the 4A Region 8 regional.
Falcon and Canon City have already played this year, with Falcon winning 10-0 on April 18.
Elsewhere in the state bracket, there are familiar squads for the Demons. No. 1 Palisade, which beat Durango 1-0 and 9-8 to finish the regular season at DHS, is playing No. 8 Ponderosa, which beat Durango 6-3 on April 28. No. 4 Grand Junction, which Durango beat twice in the regular season, will play No. 5 Pueblo County.
After the first and second round games on Friday, the semifinal and the consolation bracket games will begin on Saturday. The third round and fourth round consolation games will be on May 29 and the championship game, or games if necessary, will be on May 30.