Around the Horn: Title hopefuls Bonneville, Marsh Valley, Malad finish regular seasons with wins; district tourneys get kicked off

EASTERN IDAHO — District tournaments have arrived for most local teams, while a handful of squads put the finishing touches on their regular seasons during a busy Saturday.

Thunder Ridge, Salmon, Teton, Firth and North Fremont all started their playoff runs with wins, while title contenders Bonneville, Marsh Valley and Malad all put exclamation points on solid regular seasons with wins.

Here is what happened Saturday on diamonds across eastern Idaho:

Regular season games

Hillcrest @ Bonneville

Seniors Brock Bowman, Tyson Christensen and Carter Bowen led their conference-champion Bees (18-4, 10-1) to a 6-1 victory over the conference runner-up Knights (16-6-2, 7-3).

Bowman got the start on the bump, holding Hillcrest scoreless on four hits in his 6 innings of work, striking out six but walking four to earn the win.

Christensen drove in two runs from his leadoff spot, while Bowen stole a base, scored a run and knocked in another out of the two-hole.

As the top two seeds in the 5A District 6 tournament, both Bonneville and Hillcrest will take a bye during Tuesday’s elimination round.

Marsh Valley @ Bear Lake

Having already secured another conference title, the Eagles (18-4, 6-0) stayed hot Saturday with a 17-4 win over conference opponent Bear Lake (4-15-1, 1-5).

Seven different Marsh Valley hitters collected multiple hits, led by junior Hunter Solomon who went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base. Senior Ethan Anderson homered and drove in three.

Marsh Valley will open the 4A D5 tournament hosting American Falls (1-19, 1-5), while the Bears will be at Snake River (6-15, 4-2).

Declo @ Malad

The Dragons got an incredible combined pitching effort from the trio of Hudson Daniels, Easton Green and Dawsyn Peterson, who shared 6 innings of two-hit, one-run ball — with all of Declo’s offense coming against Peterson.

Peterson added two RBIs, matching Kurt Ward for a game-high in an 11-1 win.

The Dragons and Hornets (12-6, 4-2), as the 1- and 2-seeds respectively, both earned byes in Wednesday’s opening round of the 3A D4-5 tournament.

District tournament games

Canyon Ridge @ Thunder Ridge

The 4-seed Titans (10-13, 3-9) opened their 6A D4-5-6 tourney run with a 6-4 play-in victory over the 5-seed Canyon Ridge (7-15, 2-10), earning a round-one showdown with top-seeded Rigby (15-9, 11-1).

Senior Kutter Lish and junior Easton Carling led the way for Thunder Ridge with two hits and one RBI apiece. Lish also starred on the mound, scattering eleven hits across 6 four-run innings to earn the decision.

West Jefferson @ Salmon, all 3A D6 tournament games played at North Fremont

With a 16-0 victory over the Panthers (1-14, 0-8), the Savages (18-4, 8-0) secured their spot in the 3A D6 tournament championship.

Junior Eli Pakuer drove in three runs while fellow junior Wyatt Pilkerton homered and scored three in the dominant performance.

Four Salmon pitchers combined to shut out West Jefferson on two hits, striking out six.

Challis-Mackay @ North Fremont; North Fremont @ Firth

The Huskies (9-9, 4-4) edged out the Rivercats (7-12, 3-5) 5-3 to advance into the second round, behind a dominant outing from junior starter Collin Patterson.

Patterson held Challis-Mackay to three unearned runs on three hits while striking out 11, but hit the pitch count limit one out shy of a 7-inning complete game. Sophomore Reuger Lenz went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to provide the offense.

North Fremont, though, could not keep up its momentum in its second game of the day, falling 10-6 to the Cougars (13-7, 5-3).

Grant Vasquez and Cooper Park led the way for Firth. Vasquez finished with two hits, two runs and two RBIs; Park added two hits, three RBIs and one run scored.

Firth will face Salmon in the district championship game on Wednesday. Challis-Mackay will face West Jefferson, also on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to take on North Fremont and the loser being eliminated.

Sugar-Salem @ Teton, doubleheader

The Diggers (7-14, 1-3) and Timberwolves (10-9, 2-2) split a doubleheader as the two teams face off for the right to take on conference champion South Fremont (17-6, 3-1).

Slade Kunz led Teton to an 18-4 victory in game one of the double-dip, going 4-for-4 with a run scored and six RBIs.

Latrell Markle and Wyatt Telford each scored a run and drove in three to help Sugar-Salem win game two 9-5.

The same two teams will meet in Monday’s rubber match, with the winner advancing into a best-of-three series against the Cougars.