Highland seniors come up big in 18-2 victory over Century

POCATELLO — After six consecutive trips to the state tournament, the Highland Rams were eliminated last year in Idaho’s first-ever super-regional round.

Behind several of the same names that made Highland successful in 2025, the Rams (1-0, 0-0) started their 2026 season in overpowering fashion, crushing the Century Diamondbacks (0-1, 0-0) 18-2.

Head coach Christian Colonel complimented Century, saying that the game was closer than the score would suggest, and said there were some things the Rams need to improve upon, but that he was happy overall with the way his team opened the season.

“Hitters did a good job working the count and doing damage when they needed to, and we ran the bases pretty well,” he told EastIdahoSports.com after the game. “We’ve still got to work on our communication a little, but it was a good first day of 2026.”

Highland was off and running in the first, when senior Cooper Colonel cashed in a two-run triple to get things going. Senior Cannon Eddie, the 2025 6A District 5-6 All-Conference Player of the Year, made it a big early lead when he smoked a three-run double to the wall in the second to make it 5-0.

The Rams continued to add on offensively, pushing two four runs across in the third, two in the fifth and capping off their season-opening victory with a seven-run seventh.

Still, Colonel said that some improvements are there for the taking for his squad. Highland left runners on base in both of their scoreless innings. The coach, who noted that he does not expect a hit out of every at-bat, said that his hitters need to take a plan into the box every time, and stick to that plan.

Eddie, who added another three-run double in the final frame, finished with three hits in four at-bats, driving in seven runs and scoring another. He also walked twice. Fellow co-captains Cooper Colonel, Andrew Scott and Nash Randall each provided huge contributions as well.

Cooper finished with three hits and two RBIs, Scott also drove in a pair, and Randall, who started the game on the mound for Highland, tossed 2 scoreless innings, adding on two hits and two runs scored.

Those captains are four of the 11 seniors on the Highland roster this season. That veteran leadership, Colonel said, is integral to the Rams’ success this season and going forward.

“We’re senior-loaded,” Colonel said. “We’ve got a lot of experience, and they work the right way, so they’re showing our young guys — we still … started three sophomores today, too. It’s good for (those sophomores) to get some experience, but it’s good for our seniors to lead the right way. That way, when the seniors graduate, we’ve got the culture that we want.”

To get back to state and claim another trophy to be part of that culture, Colonel said, it will take his team “getting hot at the right time.”

“We have the capability, so we as coaches, we’ve got to get them grooving at the right time, and hopefully that’s in May.”