Chaz Fowler had a no-hitter broken up in the ninth inning, but it wasn’t enough for Plant City, as Fowler’s one-hitter led Durant to a 1-0 win over the Raiders Thursday in a non-district game.
“This was the Chaz Fowler of old,” said Durant head coach Butch Valdes. “He’s had some rough spots this season, but what he did tonight is the Chaz Fowler of old. That’s the guy that who throws and mixes up the pitches and doesn’t always try to throw it by you. He kind of deals a little bit.”
Fowler said that it came down to being focused and taking it one game at a time.
“It’s just about going out there and throwing first-pitch strikes,” he said. “Once you get them in a hole, there’s basically nothing else they can do.”
With Fowler pitching well, along with Durant’s ace Tyler Danish, the Cougars will be a favorite as they enter the Class 8A District 7 tournament after they wrap up the regular season against non-district foes Armwood, East Bay and Middleton.
“Our one-two horses are ready to go and we have some other guys in the stable ready to run,” Valdes said. “Right now, these next couple games will be fine tuning games for us.”
Plant City’s Keven Long also pitched a solid game Thursday. The lone run of the game was scored came in the fourth when Durant scored on an infield error.
“To make a district title game, or regionals or state, we have to make those plays,” said PCHS head coach Mike Fryrear. “Defensively, we were sound tonight other than that one play. Unfortunately, that was the difference in the game.”
Valdes said that facing Long was a good tune up for his team.
“The young man we saw tonight is going to be similar, velocity wise, to what we’ll see at district,” he said. “Plant City has a solid team and this was a good win for us.”