After a 9-4 loss to Newsome in late March ended a six-game win streak for Durant baseball, moving them to 10-3 on the year, they wasted no time jumping right back in the win column last week with a 3-2 win over Bloomingdale on Tuesday, followed by an 8-0 win over East Bay on Thursday. Tuesday night the Cougars made their way across town as they looked to build on yet another win streak with a win over the Riverview Sharks, ultimately coming away with an impressive 10-0 shutout win.
Leadoff hitter Nick April-Gath opened the contest with a walk to put a runner on early for the Cougars, wasting no time moving into scoring position with a stolen bag. After a ground out to short marked the first out of the inning, April-Gath took off for third as junior Noah Morales punched a single through the left side, scoring April-Gath and giving Durant a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom half of the frame. In the bottom of the first, senior Preston Rogers took the mound for Durant looking for a bounce back performance following his previous outing against Newsome, and a bounce back performance is exactly what the Cougars got from the Plant City transfer. After notching the first out of the inning on a quick strikeout, a hit by pitch gave the Sharks their first baserunner. A walk later in the inning would have Riverview threatening with runners on first and third, but a pair of strikeouts eliminated the danger and kept the Cougars on top through one.
Sophomore Brody Lissy would reach safely with a walk in the top of the second — moved to second base on a bunt from senior Aidan Welsh — but the Cougars would go down scoreless in the second. And despite another walk in the bottom of the second, Rogers would work through the frame without trouble.
In the top of the third, a strikeout for the first out of the inning was followed up with a baserunner as senior catcher Dylan LaPointe reached safely on a hit by pitch. Courtesy runner Dylan Hotz immediately stole second and then came all the way around to score on a double down the left field line from Morales. Junior Tristan Brown would draw a walk to put runners on first and second before junior Blaine Rowland ripped a single into center field — scoring Morales and giving Durant a 3-0 lead after three. Sophomore Jack Brooks then took the mound in relief for Durant, and despite a leadoff single that saw Riverview’s leadoff runner move to second on an errant pickoff move and to third on a ball in the dirt, a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to third kept Riverview off the board in his first inning of work.
Durant then broke the contest open in the top of the fourth, starting with Welsh reaching safely on a hit by pitch before stealing second. As Welsh took off in an attempt to swipe third as well, junior Devin Suero slapped a single through the left side to drive in the run and extend the Cougars’ lead to 4-0 — subsequently advancing to second on the throw home. Suero was later thrown out in an attempt to steal third for the first out of the inning and April-Gath put another baserunner on for the Cougars as he drew his second walk of the night. With LaPointe at the plate, April-Gath took off for second on the pitch and advanced to third on a looping single to right center. A balk then pushed April-Gath across to score and moved courtesy runner Hotz up to second. Morales reached safely for the third time in the contest with a walk of his own and sophomore Brantley Hayward tacked on to the Durant lead with an RBI single to left.
Now holding a 6-0 lead, Brooks sat the Riverview hitters down in order in the fourth and allowed two runners to reach in the fifth before escaping the jam unscathed.
Durant added another run in the top of the sixth as junior Pete Oderio knocked an RBI single to right, scoring Morales and pushing the Cougars’ lead to 7-0. Brooks handled the first two outs in the sixth before handing the ball off to junior Gehrig Graham to clos out the inning with a strikeout. In the top of the seventh, Durant continued to pile on. Welsh led off the inning with a base hit to left field, stealing second and moving to third on a ground out before April-Gath sent him home with a sacrifice fly to center. LaPointe reached again with another single, this time to the left side of the infield, and courtesy runner Hotz once again made his home on a double to deep left from Morales. Hayward drove Morales home with a single to right field and the Cougars took a 10-0 lead — a lead that Durant would hold firmly as Graham shut the door with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, securing the huge victory and moving the team to 13-3 on the year.
Durant was seemingly unstoppable in all phases of the contest. Defensively, they conceded just one error. On the mound, the Cougars’ three pitchers allowed no runs and struck out 12 while conceding just four hits and two walks. Offensively, Durant stole a jaw-dropping 10 bases and six different hitters notched RBIs as 14 different players registered plate appearances in the 11-hit, 10-run night. But despite a nearly flawless team effort in the victory, Morales stood out with an incredible individual performance — reaching base safely in all five of his plate appearances while going 3-3 with two doubles, two walks, three runs batted in, three runs scored and five stolen bases.
The Cougars will now look to extend their winning streak to four games as they host Newsome on Friday.