Durant's Baseball Team Is 'In Gear'

Durant's baseball team started the season with an 0-3 record, but those days seem long gone now.

The Cougars are emerging as a strong team, as evidenced by a recent string where they went 5-1, the only defeat coming against defending state semifinalist Lakeland.

"Level of play, I put us with anybody right now," said Durant first-year head coach Butch Valdes.

Durant was sitting at 2-4 before going on its impressive stretch. The true turnaround of the season took place March 11 against Plant City in a game the Raiders led 5-0. Durant came back for an 8-6 victory.

Even though Durant lost its next time out, showing it can compete with still-unbeaten Lakeland served as another confidence boost. Brad Sabourin hit a homer in the first inning as Durant went ahead 3-0, but Lakeland took advantage of some shaky defense to win, 4-3.

The Cougars fell to 4-5 on the season but then won their next three straight.

One victory was a thriller, 8-4 in 11 innings against East Bay. Christian Lopez, the team's leader in hits, homers and RBI, had three hits and a two-run triple and Ruben Garcia went 3-for-4.

"The key has been hitting, it's really starting to come around. And our pitching staff is in gear," Valdes said. Austin Buck, Adam Albers and Ty Sullivan have evenly divided the starts, though Sullivan gets work out of the bullpen as well, leading the team in innings pitched.

Buck serves up a blazing fastball in the low 90 mph range. Through March 25, Buck's earned-run average was 0.74. He shut down Riverview in a 6-1 victory on March 18, which might prove critical to Durant's district standing.

With the Saladino Tournament coming up, Valdes likes the way his pitching staff stacks up. Aside from the three who regularly start, relievers Cameron Ellis and Zach Nardello can also be relied upon for multiple innings.

While helping out on the mound, Albers has also been one of the team's top hitters, with a sizzling .458 batting average through 13 games. Shane McDougal's batting average has steadily crept toward the .350 mark.

And the club has one of the top freshmen in the area with 6-2, 188-pound Trey Oest.

The Cougars are battling with Riverview and Sarasota Riverview for third place in District 6A-8. The third spot is key, because the two teams that fall out in that race will have Lakeland in their half of the bracket at the district tournament.

"Nobody has come out and owned this thing yet. It's pretty open for us," Valdes said.

Durant takes on Sarasota tonight on the road. After the Saladino week, district play concludes for the regular season when the Cougars head to Plant City on April 14.