Dragon offense backs Higley gem in victory over fellow reigning state champ Diggers

MALAD CITY — The Bonneville Bees, Sugar-Salem Diggers and Malad Dragons each earned state championships last season, as the best baseball teams in the 5A, 4A and 3A divisions, respectively.

On Tuesday, two of those reigning champs, the Diggers and Dragons, met at Malad High School for an early-season showdown between teams in the hunt for back-to-back titles. A game that was nip-and-tuck early was blown open late when junior Dawson Peterson and the Malad offense erupted to back a solid start from senior Holdyn Higley.

Peterson followed a two-run fourth-inning double with a two-run homer in the sixth, as Malad (6-2, 0-0) pulled away from the Diggers (3-5) for a 10-1 victory.

Head coach Chad Maroney told EastIdahoSports.com that he is happy with how his Dragons are playing right now, and that the expectation is for them to challenge for another state banner.

“We plan on being there and competing,” Maroney said of his team’s title aspirations. “We’re solid, we’re hitting the ball great right now. … I’m super-excited about where we’re at right now — we’re firing, on point, everything looks good.”

Malad’s pitching staff was led by seniors Brycen Howe and Brady Showell last season, so the coaching staff knew that they would need some improvements from other hurlers to be competitive this year. Through eight games, the Dragons have held their opponents to two or fewer runs five times.

The key, Maroney said, has been getting a strong start before turning things over to junior lefty Hudson Daniels, who has been solid in his six appearances thus far.

Maroney handed the ball to Higley to start the game Tuesday, and the senior right-hander was dominant, holding the Diggers hitless into the fifth inning.

Sugar-Salem broke up the no-hitter when junior Dyson Hepworth sent a liner to left field for a single to lead off the inning. After issuing his sixth walk of the game, Higley was lifted for Daniels.

The sidearming southpaw went the rest of the way, allowing one base runner, on a walk, while striking out a pair.

Higley was tagged with one unearned run in his 4-1/3 innings of work.

Backing their pitchers, Peterson and junior Braxden Kaufman collected two hits apiece, with Peterson driving in four runs and scoring two. Malad was, as it was last season, very aggressive no the base paths, stealing seven bags — two of those coming from Peterson.

Senior lefty Jace Hammond got the start for the Diggers, battling through 4 innings. He was tagged with eight hits and seven runs — six earned — while striking out five and walking two.

The Diggers are back in action Thursday, when they travel to Snake River to take on the Panthers (1-3).

Malad, on the other hand, will not play again for two weeks. According to Maroney, the Dragons were forced to cancel a game that had been scheduled for Friday, so maintenance can be done at their home field, and that will be followed by Malad’s spring break.

They don’t play again until April 7, when they travel to Marsh Valley for an annual rivalry game with the Eagles (3-3).

Maroney plans to give his players as many reps as possible to help keep their high level of play. And, he added, there is no better way to go into a long layoff than playing a great game and earning a big win over a tough foe.

“I’m super-excited about that win,” the coach said. “That’s a good baseball team over there. They might not have shown their best today, but that’s a good baseball team. We did a great job taking care of what we needed to take care of it. We played a great game.”