Highland steals Poky’s thunder at ‘Rails West Field’ grand opening

POCATELLO — The celebration was short-lived, but Thursday still brought reason to celebrate for the Pocatello High School baseball program.

The Thunder (8-7, 0-0) hosted the crosstown rival Highland Rams (8-8, 3-2) for the grand opening of the brand new Rails West Field — the first true home field Poky baseball has ever known. But the game, which they lost 10-1, was not the home squad’s primary focus.

Pocatello head baseball coach Vinnie Benavidez spoke after the game about the pride the new field has brought the program and each individual player, saying he hears them beam with that pride when discussing the new park with friends, family members and opponents.

“These kids have done a good job of maintaining and taking care of things,” Benavidez told EastIdahoSports.com. “It’s just, it’s nice — I’ve been here for 20-plus years and finally getting to call our field our own home, instead of over at Halliwell. This is ours, we can take pride, and that’s pretty easy.”

The beautiful Rails West Field features eye-catching blue infield turf, all-new dugouts, a yet-to-be-completed press box perched atop the first base-side dugout, and an expansive outfield. The field’s massive dimensions include space to roam for all three outfielders, but particularly the center fielder, with a center field corner set well over 400 feet from home plate, harkening back to memories of early 20th-century ballparks.

Highland was the first team to challenge the center field dimensions — and range of Poky center fielder Quinn MacRory — when Cooper Colonel and Kai Jones both hammered first-inning pitches from Thunder starter Jordan Wilde well into the reaches of deep center.

Jones said after the game that what ended up being a double over MacRory’s outstretched attempt and a running catch was the hardest ball he has ever hit that did not clear the fence.

Reigning All-Conference Player of the Year Cannon Eddie, who normally provides his contribution either at the plate or behind it, said he thought Jones’ drive was ticketed for the trees beyond the fence.

“I thought it was gone, for sure,” Eddie said with a laugh.

Jones thought the same and went into a home run trot momentarily before picking it up and trying to turn his RBI double into a triple, but was thrown out at third.

Jones’ run-scoring double was part of a three-run top of the first that would be more than enough for Eddie, who made a rare start on the mound for the Rams and head coach Christian Colonel.

Eddie pitched around a pair of errors, one of his own, to give his team 4-2/3 scoreless innings, retiring 11 of the last 13 batters he faced. When Colonel went to the mound to pull Eddie with two down and no one on in the fifth, Eddie looked to ask for the chance to get a final out and finish the fifth.

Colonel said after the game that the competitiveness that makes Eddie great is what made him want to finish the job. But, in the end, Colonel had to take Eddie’s arm health going forward into account.

Eddie is not only one of the more productive hitters in the state but also one of its best catchers, partially because of his ability to throw out runners. So his arm health is paramount to Highland’s success the rest of the season.

“To be honest with you, I probably should have taken him out of the game and not had him catch. We need him to be healthy the rest of the way,” Colonel told EastIdahoSports.com after the game.

While he was dominant on the mound, Eddie was held hitless at the dish. Picking up the slack for their teammate, Jones and Cooper led the way. Jones finished with three hits, including another ball that got over MacRory’s head in center that did yield a triple, to go with two runs scored and two driven in. Cooper went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs.

“We’re really close; we pick each other up,” Jones said after the game. “We’re a tight-knit group, we really support each other.”

Highland has now won back-to-back games and four of its last five, arriving at a tough spot in its schedule. The Rams will host reigning 5A champ Bonneville (12-3, 5-1) on Saturday, then conference-leading Rigby (6-9, 4-1) on Tuesday.

Colonel said that things are starting to fall into place for his squad, and Thursday’s win could help the offense get “contagious.”

“We need everybody to get hot at the right time, if we’re going to make a run at this thing,” he said.

Eddie was a bit bolder, saying the win is just more momentum for his team.

“We’re rolling,” he said. “We’re not losing another game. We’re going to keep rolling.”

Pocatello, on the other hand, needs to rebuild the momentum it had gained before the loss. The Thunder went 4-0 last week, with wins against Rigby, a successful 6A team, and Burley, the 19th-ranked team in the state according to MaxPreps.

“We’re going to regroup … we’ve just got to keep moving forward,” Benavidez said. “We’ll be OK.”

RELATED | Ground broken on Rails West Field — Pocatello High’s future baseball field

At the end of the day, though, the game was secondary, according to Benavidez, who was part of every stage of Rails West Field’s development.

Highland’s players and coaches both had high praise for Poky’s new home.

“It sticks out,” Jones said of the field and its blue turf. “It’s definitely an upgrade.”

Colonel called the field an “freaking awesome achievement” for Pocatello High School, the Thunder baseball program and Benavidez.

“This was a special day for them,” Colonel said. “We love what Rails West did, like what Westmark (Credit Union) did for us — we love having more baseball fields in the community.”

Benavidez thanked everyone involved, from the school district and the school administration to the sponsors, Rails West Federal Credit Union, and the community, for all the work that went into making this dream a reality. The finished product, he added, has surpassed those dreams:

“I think it came out better than a lot of us expected it to. It’s good, it’s a good feeling.”