5A baseball roundup: Bonneville battles back but falls; Malad completes comeback

CALDWELL — The Bonneville Bees dug themselves into a deep hole right out of the gate, Friday night at Wolfe Field, handing the Twin Falls Bruins five runs in the top of the first.

Twin Falls added six more in the third to take an early 11-0 lead. But the Bees weren’t done buzzing.

Bonneville began to chip away at the deficit with two runs in the bottom of the third, and scored at least one run in each of the remaining five innings, all the while holding the Bruins off the board. But the comeback fell one hit short, as Gavin Hernandez grounded out to end the game representing the tying run.

Wasted early chances loomed large for a Bonneville team that came all the way back only to fall, 11-9, in the 5A Baseball State Championships semifinals.

After the game, head coach Ryan Alexander spoke highly of the grit and perseverance his team showed in clawing its way back into the game. But he offered a blunt statement regarding that grit.

“We should’ve brought that grit earlier,” he said.

“When you dig yourself a hole like that — you’re chasing 11 runs in a semifinal game — to be able to come back within two, to fight back, compete … we gave ourselves a chance. I’d like to see us do that a little bit earlier,” Alexander added.

Twin Falls recorded just two hits in the taxing first inning.

Bonneville starter Lincoln Stuart did not do himself any favors, issuing free passes to three of the first four batters he faced — two walks and one hit batsman. Sandwiched between the pitching mishaps was a fielding error in right field by Jadon Cervantes.

Stuart didn’t record his first out until the Bruins had already scored three runs. But after striking out back-to-back hitters, the junior surrendered a backbreaking two-run double to freshman Treyson Walker.

He was lifted in favor of senior Greyson Martin, who quickly punched out Twin Falls leadoff man Dalton Carter to end the frame.

It was more of the same in the third, when the Bruins used free bases and clutch hits to hang a six-spot on the board and threaten an early stoppage.

But that rally came after a pair of wasted opportunities for Bonneville to cut into the deficit early.

Martin, after escaping the jam in the top of the first, led off the bottom half with a double to left. He advanced to third on a groundout and was 90 feet from scoring with just one out. But the Bees left him there.

Then, they did the same in the second, when junior Gavin Webb hit a one-out triple but was also stranded at third.

It may not have seemed like it at the time, but the two runs proved to be the difference in the game.

Alexander spoke about how his team has found ways to battle back all season, especially over the past month, but said that they cannot rely on that when facing the top four teams in the state.

“You can’t afford to come out and not be ready to play, and figure it out late,” he said. “Good teams, like Twin Falls, will put you in a real bad situation, real quick.”

Bonneville finally did cash in on one of those money situations in the third, when junior Taye Lords hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Martin. That came immediately following an RBI single from junior Carter Bowen to break the scoring seal for the Bees.

Led by senior Coltan Spagnuolo, who drove in three runs, and Lords, who added two RBIs, Bonneville scored single runs in the fourth and fifth, before making things interesting with a three-spot in the sixth.

The offensive outburst would have been meaningless had the Bee bullpen not done its job.

Four Bonneville pitchers combined to post four straight zeroes, stuffing the Bruin attack after the third.

That brought the Bees to the plate in the seventh trailing 11-7. And things got even more interesting when the inning started with two walks and a single to load the bases.

A second sacrifice fly from Lords, and a run-scoring groundout from Spagnuolo brought Hernandez to the plate with two down, a runner on third and the deficit trimmed to two. But a soft roller up the middle was fielded by pitcher Jordan Bingham, whose throw barely beat a hustling Hernandez.

Now, Bonneville, the top-seed in the 5A tournament, finds itself in a difficult situation. The Bees will need to win three games Saturday, including two against the same Bruins team they faced Friday, in order to claim the banner.

To earn a rematch with Twin Falls, the Bees will need to beat the Vallivue Falcons, who bested the Skyview Hawks, 5-2, Friday afternoon.

“That is a gauntlet that is going to test our mettle,” Alexander said. “I think we’re up for it. We’ve just got to win one pitch at a time — you can’t win three games without winning one pitch at a time.”

Malad completes their comeback

Like Bonneville, the Malad Dragons found themselves trailing early.

Facing the 3A bracket’s No. 3-seed Nampa Christian, the four-seed Dragons fell behind 5-0 in the bottom of the second. But they answered right back with a two-spot in the top of the third.

The two teams switched sides in the fifth, with Malad scoring a pair in the top half only to have the Trojans answer back with five more, putting the Dragons behind, 10-4.

But Nampa Christian was unable to hold the line in the sixth.

Trojan pitching issued four free passes — three walks and a hit batsman — sandwiched by four Malad hits, including a leadoff triple from Brady Showell and RBI knocks from Kyson Willie, Cale Briggs and Carter Carey. Holdyn Higley and Carter Blaisdell each added run-scoring walks, giving the Dragons a five-run frame.

Despite the outburst though, Malad was still trailing, 10-9, entering the game’s final inning. But more free bases — a walk and an error — brought Easton Green to the plate with the tying at second, and the sophomore tallied a run-scoring single.

The Trojans cut down Malad’s first attempt at grabbing the lead on a play at the plate. But they relinquished that run anyway on a wild pitch from Pete Dice.

Blaisdell, who took over on the mound in the fourth, followed a scoreless sixth with another zero in the seventh to seal the comeback win for his Dragons.

Malad will now await the winner of a loser-out Saturday morning game between Nampa Christian and Marsing, who crushed Orofino 19-1, Friday afternoon.

The Dragons will have two chances to win one game for the banner.