4A tournament: No. 3 seed Marsh Valley, No. 4 seed Sugar-Salem each win to advance in championship bracket

IDAHO FALLS – There’s no way the battle between defending state champion Sugar-Salem and the current No. 1 seed and unbeaten Fruitland Grizzlies could live up to the hype.

Would it be playoff baseball at its best or one of those games that just looks good on paper?

None of that mattered to the Diggers Thursday night when they opened the 4A state championship series at Melaleuca Field.

Sugar-Salem got a strong start from right-hander Jackson Gardner and came through with the big hits on the way to a 7-3 win.

Sugar-Salem will face Marsh Valley on Friday with the winner moving on to Saturday’s championship game.

Both the Diggers and Grizzlies entered Thursday averaging double-figure runs, but Gardner struck out seven and gave up three earned runs in a complete-game performance.

The Diggers had a 1-0 advantage in the second inning on a misplayed ball in the outfield that allowed a run to score before Dawson McInelly padded the lead with a two-run triple to left.

Will Chappell knocked in a run in the fourth and McInelly followed with a hard-hit grounder that got by Fruitland’s shortstop for a two-run error. A double steal brought home another run and the Diggers sported a 7-0 lead in the fourth.

Fruitland put together a single, walk and a two-run double to cut into the lead in the fifth.

They scored three runs, but would get no closer.

Gardner and McInelly each finished with two RBIs.

Sugar-Salem (20-4) has won 17 straight games while Fruitland (26-1) suffered its first loss of the season.

The Grizzlies will play Cole Valley Christian at 4 p.m. with the winner surviving to play Saturday.

Sugar-Salem vs. Marsh Valley is set for 7 p.m.

MARSH VALLEY 14, COLE VALLEY CHRISTIAN 7

After a 90-minute rain delay, the Marsh Valley vs. Cole Valley Christian tournament opener was sloppy at times, but the high-scoring Eagles lineup finally came through with 10 runs in the third and fourth innings to power by the Chargers.

Marsh Valley batted in the top of the first, but the rains came down when the Chargers came to bat in the bottom of the inning, forcing the delay.

Blue skies finally returned and the Chargers opened the scoring with a run in the first.

Marsh Valley, which averages 13 runs per game, finally got its offense going as the Eagles tied the game on a sacrifice fly to score Chandler Bennett.

Cole Valley misplayed the throw back into the infield and runners advanced to second and third. Boston Sorensen tripled to center to score both runners and Cooper Curzon followed with a single to center to plate Sorensen and the big inning was on.

Tate Whitworth hit a double to the left field wall and Curzon scored as Marsh Valley took a 5-1 lead.

Cole Valley loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, but the Eagles turned a ground ball into a double play to end the threat.

Aggressive base running by the Eagles added another run in the fourth for a 6-1 lead as the flood gates started to open.

Cole Valley avoided a 10-run mercy rule game and took advantage of five Marsh Valley errors.

Cole Valley (23-6) was second in the final MaxPreps 4A rankings while Marsh Valley (26-1) was fourth.

Bo Larsen finished with three RBIs for the Eagles and Kutter Lish and Sorensen each knocked in two runs.