Durant is finally state-bound

MOUNT VERNON - Gloves flew in the air as a sea of blue and yellow piled on the pitcher's mound at the Mount Vernon softball field Monday night.

The Durant softball team (31-5) knocked off upset-minded Alburnett (29-14) 6-0 to advance to the 2A state softball tournament.

"It feels great to finally make it,” Durant coach Steve Hopkins said, still wet from a postgame Gatorade victory shower.

Durant lost the last two years in the regional final, but this was its year, according to Hopkins.

“As the season went on we knew we had something special, because of our experience of being here the last two years,” Hopkins said.

The Wildcats started off hot and never looked back Monday. They scored four runs in the first inning off of four singles and a Pirate error, putting Alburnett's upset bid at rest almost immediately.

Those runs were all Durant starter Paige Compton needed.

She silenced any offensive attempt by Alburnett en route to a complete game, two-hitter. She struck out four and baffled Pirate hitters the entire night, surrendering both of her hits only in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Alburnett starting pitcher Jacqueline Naeve struggled early, quickly surrendering pitching responsibilities to freshman Cassidy Henle after the third inning.

Henle did provide three innings of solid relief for the Pirates. She gave up one run on just three hits to finish the game for Alburnett.

Unfortunately for Henle and her teammates, the Pirate bats were quiet most of the night.

“We lost our composure some,” Alburnett coach Kevin Johnson said. “I'm sure we'll go down to the state tournament in 2A and say, ‘Hey, we could have been there, we're better than them,' we just ran into a really good Durant team.”

The only scoring chance for Alburnett came in that fifth inning when back-to-back singles and an error by the Wildcat left fielder left runners at second and third for Alburnett with no outs.

However, Compton met the challenge and retired the next three Pirate batters. She shut the door completely for the Pirates in the next two innings to give Durant the state tournament berth.

Tournament play begins Monday and goes through Friday in Fort Dodge.