Durant Leads Drury Back to Final Four

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Brayden Durant struck out seven and walked one in a complete-game effort on the mound Saturday to pitch the Drury baseball team to a 6-0 win over Keefe Tech in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament at Joe Wolfe Field.

 

Durant gave up just three hits in sending the Blue Devils back to the state’s Final Four for the second straight year.

 

He got all the offensive support he needed when Drury scored two runs in the bottom of the third.

 

Julian Feliciano got things started with a leadoff single, and he moved to second when Connor Hinkell reached on an error.

 

JJ Prenguber’s sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position, but Feliciano was erased when Keefe Tech threw home on a ground ball off the bat of Lucas Hamilton, leaving runners at the corners.

 

Hinkell was awarded home plate on a balk that also sent Hamilton to second base. And Jake McAllister singled to center field to make it a 2-0 game.

 

Drury tacked on runs in the fourth and sixth innings to extend their lead, and Durant held the Broncos at bay as the Blue Devils got through the first three rounds of the state tournament allowing a total of just three runs.

 

Feliciano went 2-for-3, and McAllister was 2-for-4 to lead Drury’s offense. Durant helped his cause with a double, and Hamilton drove in two runs.

 

Fourth-seeded Drury (17-6) advances to this week’s state semi-final against either top-seeded English of Boston or No. 9 Hopedale, who play on Sunday morning.

 

Last year, English beat Drury, 9-7, in the state semi-finals at Holy Cross in Worcester.