Durango rules the state

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Aug. 13, 2001 | 9:31 a.m.

The road-tested Durango Trailblazers have earned the right to take at least one more trip in 2001.

After spending the bulk of their summer journeying to tournaments in Pueblo, Colo., Rapid City, S.D., Woodward, Okla., and San Clemente, Calif., Durango's American Legion baseball team returned to its home park and captured this year's state title Saturday night, defeating Western 18-5 in seven innings.

For the second time in six years, the Blazers will represent Nevada in the Western Regional Tournament, which begins Thursday in Salt Lake City. Should Durango win the eight-team event, it would travel to Yakima, Wash., for this year's American Legion World Series Aug. 24-28.

"It's a funny game. We can play well one week and bad the next, so I don't know how we'll do," Durango coach Tom Appleyard said. "I anticipate us playing hard, and that's all I ask them to do."

The Trailblazers (52-30) grabbed their first Legion state title since 1996 with a 4-0 showing in the state tournament. The team -- which entered the eight-team event as the No. 6 seed -- was particularly dominant at the plate, hammering opponents Cimarron-Memorial, Bishop Gorman, Palo Verde and Western by a combined 52-17 score and ending three games early with the 10-run mercy rule.

"We had an up-and-down summer. We felt like we had the ability, but we couldn't put anything together," Appleyard said. "I give credit to these kids because they kept working hard. When things weren't going well they played the hardest."

First baseman Adam Kunkel, one of four 2001 graduates on the Blazers' roster, led the charge against the Warriors in the championship, going 3-for-5 with a whopping seven RBIs. Kunkel's third-inning grand-slam homer extended a 3-0 lead to 7-0 and helped earn him tournament MVP honors.

"I wanted to go out with a bang. I've always wanted a state championship," Kunkel said. "We've had our downs this year, but it's how you play at the end that really matters."

Eight of Durango's nine starters produced at least one hit, with Stephen Cope going 4-for-5 and Don Sutton contributing a pair of doubles. Pitcher Mathew Davis cooled off the Warriors' red-hot bats, allowing just four earned runs in a complete-game victory.