Demons face tough rematch in state opener

David Miller
The Duncan Banner

Fri, May 16 2008

— With their regional tournament title crossed off this season’s “to-do” list, the Duncan Demons are preparing for Class 5A’s state baseball tournament.
The Demons (26-8) got a scare in the first of two regional final games Friday against Altus. After losing 5-4 in the opener, Duncan stomped the Bulldogs 13-6 to advance to state after a one-year absence.
Duncan is pooled with No. 2 Bishop Kelley, No. 4 Carl Albert and No. 5 Bixby. The Demons open up with a 1:30 p.m. Wednesday game against Bishop Kelley at Broken Arrow High School. Should Duncan win, it would move on to the winner’s bracket where it would face the winner of Carl Alert/Bixby on Thursday. If the Demons lose, they would play at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday against the loser of Bixby/Carl Albert.
DHS and Bishop Kelley played once this season, with the Comets claiming a 14-3 win at the McAlester tournament.
“They run-ruled us, but didn’t get a hit until the fourth inning,” Duncan head coach Darren Briggs said Monday afternoon. “Only five of their runs were earned, so it will come down to us playing good defense.”
Defense hasn’t been a bright spot for this season for the Demons, who committed 12 errors in three games against Altus in the regional tournament. Still, Briggs is confident the Demons can overcome their miscues.
“We just have to make sure that those errors don’t come at crucial points in the ballgame,” Briggs said. “We have some young guys playing for us and this is part of the process. These are my guys and I am rolling with them.”
Seven of the eight teams, including Duncan, were in the McAlester Tournament in April. The Demons went 1-3 against those teams, but Briggs is banking on experience and confidence to carry the Demons this time around.
“We were the least-experienced team in that tournament, and I think there was an intimidation factor for some of our younger guys,” Briggs said. “We are still a young team, but these guys have faced top competition this season. It shouldn’t affect them.”
Duncan has lived on the strength of its offense this season, and if it hopes to advance in the state tournament, that trend will need to continue. The top of the Demons’ lineup is loaded with high-percentage hitters and base stealers in lead-off man Trent Wilkins and Tyler King. Wilkins is batting .485 with 35 stolen bases, while King is hitting .484 with 24 steals.
“One through nine, we are not a power team, but we are hitting .369 as a group,” Briggs said. “Plus, we run the bases well, so if we play well defensively and get solid pitching, we have a chance.”
Briggs hasn’t decided if he will go with King (6-2) or Jacob Russell against the Comets, though he said he is leaning toward Russell.
“I’m thinking of going with Jacob, but we will still have to see how everyone feels,” Briggs said. “Jacob’s curve ball as been on lately and I think the mix of good off-speed stuff and fastballs would help us.”

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