THROUGH THE LENS: A look at Sugar-Salem’s 4A championship game on a soggy, thunder-y afternoon

IDAHO FALLS — Sometimes it takes a while to let the emotion sink in.

That was the case Saturday as Sugar-Salem baseball coach Brady Gardner talked about his team after celebrating another state title.

It’s one thing to win a state championship, it’s something special to win back-to-back titles with a group of seniors, some of whom have been playing together since they were 9 years old, he said.

From Day 1, Gardner has called this a special group. This weekend the Diggers capped the special season with a second state championship.

The Diggers came in as the No. 4 seed, but knocked off No. 1 and previously unbeaten Fruitland in the tournament opener.

Then the Diggers beat east Idaho foe Marsh Valley.

Then in Saturday’s rematch with Fruitland, Sugar-Salem again prevailed, relying on its senior class to add another blue trophy to the team’s collection.