Graham delivers in first start as Cougars maul Leto

Durant sophomore Gehrig Graham pitched four scoreless innings as the Cougars defeated Leto via mercy-rule (photo by Lily Belcher).

By Lily Belcher
Correspondent

PLANT CITY – Durant sophomore Gehrig Graham had been sidelined with slight elbow tenderness the past few games. However, the right hander didn’t let it show in Saturday’s opening game for Durant in the Saladino Tournament Gold Division game against Leto. Graham delivered four scoreless innings and found support from his Cougars teammates which ended things early with a 10-0, mercy-rule victory.

“It’s good to be back,” Graham said. “The team is just amazing. Coach (Butch Valdes) picks everybody up, the team picks everybody up, it’s just something you want to be a part of.”

Graham relied on his fastball and changeup for his 82-pitch outing. Valdes pulled him after four innings to avoid straining his elbow and to allow freshman pitcher Dylan Holtz to make his pitching debut.

The win Saturday ends a two-game skid for the Durant (4-2) after the Cougars dropped road games to Bloomingdale and Jefferson this week.

“It feels a lot better to get out of that losing streak we had running,” Valdes said. “It was nice to see Gehrig [Graham] back and then [freshman Dylan Holtz] and some of the bats come alive.”

Graham’s performance on the mound was the highlight of the game, but Durant’s offense is what drove the match to be called after five innings per the 10-run rule.

Junior catcher Dylan LaPointe was responsible for three of the team’s RBI and went 2-for-4 with two stand-up triples.

“We come out strong,” said LaPointe about the Cougars’ offense. “We always stay back, look opposite field so you know your approach. We know we can drive some runs and get some players on base.”

The bottom third of Durant’s lineup, made up of senior Brett Martin, senior Avery Cherry, and sophomore Devin Suero, scored the majority of the runs off a handful of base hits combined with fielding errors by the Falcons. The game ended after Leto reliever Adrian Tinoco loaded the bases with one out and walked in the final run after issuing four balls to first baseman Martin.

The shutout win is what Valdes said his team needed as motivation to pull themselves out of a two-game losing streak going into the rest of the Saladino Tournament. Durant will carry that motivation to their game against Strawberry Crest at home on Monday at 7pm.

⚾⚾⚾⚾

(3) Durant 10
Leto 0 – five innings

L 000|00x|x – |0|3|5
D 222|04x|x – |10|8|0
W – Graham (1-0); L – Arteaga (2-1)
2B – B. Rivera, K. Rivera (L); Cherry (D); 3B – LaPointe 2 (D). Records – L (4-3); D (5-2).