For the first time since 2001, the Durant Cougars are district champions.
Durant took care of Wharton 5-1 Thursday night at Bloomingdale High in the Class 8A-7 championship.
“It’s huge to bring it back home,” said Durant coach Butch Valdes. “Our softball team has done a tremendous job over there and we’ve been trying to follow suit behind them and hopefully we can keep up the pace.”
The Cougars will now host a region quarterfinal May 1 against either East Lake or Sarasota-Riverview. Wharton will move on as the 8A-7 runner-up, after having a Cinderella run in the district tournament after going winless in district play in the regular season.
Durant’s Chaz Fowler got the win on the mound for the Cougars, allowing seven hits and just one earned run while striking out nine in a complete game performance.
“Getting ahead in the count and then throwing my change up for the third strike was big for me tonight,” Fowler said. “My change up was working.”
University of Florida commit Tyler Danish homered to right in the fourth to give Durant a 1-0 lead.
“I was just sitting curve ball, because he hadn’t thrown me a fastball all night,” Danish said about the home run off of Wharton’s Mike Gonzalez. Danish struck out in his first at-bat. “First at bat he kind of got me, but with two strikes, I shortened up and we’ve been working on that in practice with a two-strike approach. I got a good pitch and hit it to right field and it just carried out.”
This marked back-to-back games where Danish homered to give his team the lead, after doing it in the district semifinals against Plant. Danish will get the start in the region quarterfinal, according to Valdes. The senior right-hander hasn’t allowed an earned run this season.
“To be here three times in a row and to lose it two times in one-run games, it’s a great feeling get this win,” Danish said. “It’s a big relief for all of the seniors to win it our senior year and just make history for the school.”