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Durant Advances To State Semifinals

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By JEFFREY JONES

Tribune correspondent

Published: April 30, 2008

DURANT - Behind a dominating performance delivered by Durant pitcher Sara DeMuth, the Cougars advanced to the Class 6A state tournament Tuesday by edging Winter Garden West Orange 3-1 in the Region 2 final.

DeMuth stifled the Warriors (25-5), allowing only one hit through seven innings, while striking out 10 for her 19th victory of the season.

Durant (25-5) wasted little time, scoring two runs in the first inning to set the tone for the game.

After DeMuth struck out the side in the top half of the first, the Cougars got two hits and a walk to load the bases with no outs.

Warriors pitcher Taylor Fawbush then hit Kelsey Horton with a pitch to force in the game's first run.

Erika Wetherington's sacrifice fly scored Brandi Regan, who evaded the swipe tag by West Orange's catcher, to put Durant ahead 2-0.

"If you can score in the first inning in a tight game, that definitely helps your momentum," Cougars coach Matt Carter said.

DeMuth then took control, looking comfortable on the mound as she cruised through the next three innings.

But in the fifth, the Warriors got a little help when the Cougars made a pair of errors, allowing West Orange to cut the deficit to 2-1.

"After those two errors we still had a one-run lead, so we tried to relax," DeMuth said.

The Cougars' defense did exactly that, as DeMuth pounced on a weakly hit grounder to throw the batter out at first, and when Fawbush tried to score from second base, she was thrown out at the plate by Wetherington.

Warriors coach Bobby Brewer believed he made the right call sending Fawbush home, hoping to give his offense a much-needed spark.

"We hadn't been doing anything all night long, so we took a chance by being aggressive and put some pressure on them," Brewer said. "We gambled and we lost."

DeMuth settled down and shut the Warriors out the rest of the way. The Cougars added an insurance run in the sixth when Horton scored on Kelly Jones' squeeze, avoiding the tag at the plate.

"I knew I had to get the back door - Brandi did it earlier in the game, and it worked really good, so I did the same thing," Horton said. "And it worked again."

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