Malad stays perfect after trading late haymakers with Bear Lake

MALAD CITY — Trailing in a pitcher’s duel all afternoon, the Bear Lake Bears broke through late against the Malad Dragons and ace Liddia Gonzalez, taking a lead in the seventh and final inning.

But the reigning 3A state runners-up answered back in the bottom half, beating the Bears (5-2,0-0) 5-4 at Malad High School on a walk-off double from sophomore Stella Merja.

The victory came one day after Malad (4-0, 0-0) erased a seventh-inning deficit to beat Declo 14-8 on the road.

Assistant coach Aysha Maddox, who is filling in for head coach Bri Adams, who recently gave birth, spoke highly about this young group of Dragons.

“These girls are — I don’t know if scrappy is the right word … they’ve got so much heart, and they want it,” Maddox told EastIdahoSports.com after the game.

Malad has claimed a state trophies six years in a row, including four consecutive championship from 2019 to 2023. But they saw several key players graduate last season, including four-time state Player of the Year Riglee Peterson — three times in the 2A classification, then as a senior in 3A.

Gonzalez, who filled Malad’s role as No. 1 pitcher at times last season despite Peterson’s pressence, has taken the responsibility trying to replace her former teammate.

“She made a comment early on about stepping into Riglee’s spot, and she’s doing it,” Maddox said of the junior. “She’s not afraid, and those are huge shoes to fill. … She’s had a great start to the season, we expect big things.”

Gonzalez got the start Friday, and had to work around a little trouble in the first inning. After surrendering back-to-back two-out hits, including an RBI triple from junior catcher Abby Humpherys, Gonzalez slammed the door with a strikeout of Bears pitcher Lindsay Fisher.

She then retired eight straight and nine of 10 as her offense took no time to recover from the early hit.

The Dragons collected three hits, to go with a pair of walks, in the first, answering Bear Lake’s run with two of their own. But they left the bases loaded, then did it again in the second. In total, Malad left 11 runners on base — one or more in every inning save for the seventh.

Gonzalez gave herself some breathing room in the fourth, launching a solo home run to left to push the Dragons ahead 3-1 while the Bears could get nothing going on offense.

Bear Lake finally got some offensive rhythm in the top of the fifth, scoring a run to make it 3-2. But Malad threatened to answer right back, sophomore Sarah Toone and freshman Harlee Maddox led off the inning with hits.

Bear Lake made a pitching change, calling in a freshman of its own in Brielle Romrell. And Romrell escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a pop-out.

The freshman continued to keep her team in the game with a scoreless sixth, and was in line for a win after the Bears went ahead on a two-run homer from senior Peyten Crockett.

Even after hitting Toone to start the bottom of the seventh, Romrell appeared to have earned that win when she got Gonzalez to swing at a pitch in the dirt for strike three and the apparent final out of the game.

Because the ball hit the dirt, however, the Bears had to complete the out with a throw to first. But Humpherys’ throw was low and skipped past first baseman Caleigh Beard, allowing Gonzalez to reach.

Merja followed with a booming double to center field, scoring the winning run. She finished with three hits and two RBIs. Toone added a pair of hits and a pair of RBIs, while Gonzalez scored two runs on two hits and struck out nine in her 7 innings of work in the circle.

Maddox spoke about the bottom of the Malad order, including freshman pinch-hitter Kyndall Tanner, which sparked a rally to set things up for Gonzalez, Merja and the top of the order.

“The thing is, we have such a great group of girls this year that — we’ve probably got 12 girls that, any of them could play almost any spot, and the same goes for our batting order,” the coach said. “I had no lack of confidence in the girls that were coming up.”

The Dragons will be back in action Tuesday, when they host Sugar-Salem (1-2, 0-0).

Bear Lake was led by Crockett, who drove in three runs on two hits. They will play on Wednesday at Snake River (1-5, 0-0) in an early-season conference showdown.