Starting off their conference games on the right foot, the Dragon baseball team took a big win over the Bear Lake Bears as they hosted them for their first conference game of the season on Wednesday, April 19.  Despite Bear Lake taking an early lead, Malad was able to consistently put runs on the board to easily defeat their conference opponents.  

 The Dragons got rolling offensively as Brady Showell went to bat in the bottom of second inning.  With the count at two outs, Showell singled to center field.  As teammate, Sawyer Poulson, was up to bat, Showell managed to take second base on a wild pitch.  Poulson then hit a fly ball to the outfield, batting in Showell to put the first run on the board for the Dragons.

In the next inning, it was Ryan Jensen and Jaden Ward that scored runs for Malad while Chase Briggs was up to bat.  The hitter sent the ball on a line drive to second base, giving Jensen on third and Ward on first, the chance to round the bases and head for home.

Scoring again in the fourth inning, Malad began to run away with the game.  Ryan Hubbard was first to bat for the Dragons, getting walked to first base after Bear Lake’s pitcher passed four consecutive balls outside the strike zone.  Hubbard advanced to second base on the next at bat as Jensen grounded out to shortstop and to third as Dex Maroney hit a fly ball to right field.  Hubbard took the chance to take home as Ward was up to bat, scoring as the count was two and one.  On the next pitch, Ward singled on a ground ball to shortstop, batting in Maroney and tallying the score up 5-2.  Ward added a final run for the inning, scoring as Gaiden Combs hit a double fly ball to center field.

The Dragons finished off the Bears in the sixth inning as they added six more runs to their count.  Maroney, Ward, Briggs, Showell, and Combs each grabbed another run with Gabe Hooste earning his first one of the game to round out the scoring.  

 Ward led the scoring for Dragons, earning three runs on three at bats on two hits.  Briggs helped take the team to victory by leading the team with four runs batted in, followed by Hooste with two.

After letting two runs by in the opening inning, Malad held their opponent scoreless throughout the remainder of the game.  Stetson Higley stepped up to the mound as pitcher for the Dragons, pitching six innings and allowing only two runs on two hits with two walks while striking out 11 batters.  Defensively, catcher Combs led the team with nine putouts with first baseman Jensen adding another eight.

 The Dragon’s remaining games of the week didn’t fare as well as they played Snake River the following day and Ririe over the weekend.  Against the Panthers, Malad struggled to play their own game, giving up six runs by the close of the third inning.  The Dragons found it difficult at the plate, only earning four hits over 25 at bats.  Higley finally put a run on the scoreboard in the sixth inning as Showell doubled to right field to put the final score, 1-6.

 The Firth Cougars pulled away in the 6th inning to take the lead from Malad in their final game of the week.  After being tied at one run each for three innings, the Dragons put up three big runs in the fifth inning from Cael Seamons, Blaisdell, and Ward.  But it wasn’t enough as the Cougars made their way through the final inning of the game.  

Despite the tough losses, Coach Bo Clark shared, “We are heading in a good direction.  We played well in our win against Bear Lake and also played well in the loss to Firth.  Unfortunately we just didn’t play well in the Snake River game.”  Coach Clark and his team look forward to the next week of games as they take on Soda Springs, both at home and away.  They will finish up the weekend hosting Marsh Valley on Saturday, April 29.