Durant baseball coach J.W. Parsons couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season for his veteran squad as they jumped all over rival McAlester for a District 5A-4 sweep.
The Lions pulled away late for a 10-4 victory in the opener and then belted the Buffaloes by a 15-2 count in the second game of the series.
Parsons squad will have another pivotal district home-and-home matchup with Pryor this week as well as league favorite Claremore immediately after Spring Break.
In the opener, the Lions scored at least once in each of the first four innings to build a 5-3 advantage.
Durant’s initial run was aided by a McAlester error but the Lions plated two more in the second following singles from Stephen Manhard, Ryder Jones, Aiden Diviney and Lucas McClure.
Cole Robbins led off and eventually scored in the third stanza with the fifth tally coming off a walk and Buffalo miscue in the fourth frame.
After McAlester closed to within 5-4 in the sixth, Durant erupted with five runs in the sixth that put it completely out of reach with a Robbins two-run triple providing the key blow.
That was plenty of run support for DHS starting hurler Reid Thompson, who tossed five solid frames in which he allowed just one earned run on four hits, struck out three and walked four. Holdan Robinson added two stanzas of scoreless relief that included only one hit and a pair of strikeouts.
Offensively the Lions totaled 10 hits as Diviney, Lucas McClure and Robinson all had two apiece. Elijah McClure, Robinson, Manhard and Jones each notched one hit.
The final series matchup at McAlester saw a similar production with Durant pushing across two runs in each of the three innings for a 6-0 edge.
Jared Avalos, Lucas McClure and Robbins each had singles in the first frame flurry. Diviney, Elijah McClure and Robinson all chipped in hits in the second. Durant’s other three early runs came via four walks and a McAlester error.
The Lion lead narrowed to 6-2 going to the fifth stanza when a nine-run Durant uprising took all suspense out of the outcome. The Lions strung together six singles, two of which came off the bat of Avalos, who finished with a terrific three for four night at the plate that included three RBI.
Elijah McClure posted two hits and four batted in while Robinson had a pair of hits and three RBI. Diviney, Lucas McClure, Robbins, Manhard, Jones and Jackson Williams added one apiece.
Robbins fired all five innings on the mound, allowing two runs on five hits with one strikeout and two walks.
