The Dragon baseball team filled their week with games on their home field, going two for three in front of their favorite hometown fans.  They claimed the win as they took on district opponent Soda Springs and the Firth Cougars that had beaten them earlier in the season.  They fell to Wendell despite leading until the final inning.

The MHS baseball team made the game look easy as they took down the Soda Springs Cardinals Wednesday, April 17.  Gathering three quick outs in the top of the first inning, they just as quickly put up a run to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom.  After getting on base with a single to third base, Rydon Montgomery made his way around the bases to score as the Soda Springs pitcher committed a series of errors.

Back on defense in the second inning, the Dragons were led by pitcher Timmy Jensen who struck out two batters with Ryan Hubbard at first base managing the third.  Turning the game back to the Malad offense, they extended their lead by runs.  Sawyer Poulson hit a double to left field, batting in Cale Briggs from second base.  Jensen followed with a single to center field.

With runners on first and third, Dawsyn Peterson stepped up to the plate to hit a fly ball to left field, punching in Poulson and Cael Seamons, courtesy runner for Jensen, to make the score 4-0.  Peterson ran in the final score of the inning as Brady Showell hit a fly ball in second base territory.

The Malad defense continued to shut out the Cardinals in the third and fourth inning as they put three more runs on the scoreboard.  Up 8-0, it wasn’t until the sixth inning that Soda Springs managed two runs.

Peterson led the Dragons in hitting, getting 1 run on 2 hits on 4 at bats, batting in 3 with zero strikeouts.  From the mound, Jensen threw a strong 5+ innings, facing 25 batters, striking out 11, walking 1, allowing 2 runs on 8 hits.  Hubbard came in to relief pitch in the final innings as Jensen neared his pitch count cap.  Hubbard allowed zero runs, on zero hits while he struck out 3.  Carter Blaisdell led the defense with putouts with 13, followed by Hubbard with 5, Montgomery with 2, and Easton Green adding 1.

Friday, April 19, Malad hosted Firth in their second matchup of the season.  Not having played the Cougars before, the Dragons weren’t sure what to expect in their previous game and eventually fell 0-12.  Now with experience on their side, they were well prepared to take on Firth and they proved that in just six innings.

Malad took the lead in the opening inning as Jensen and Seamons scored on a single hit by Green.  Firth answered with a single run in the top of the second inning but the Dragon defense quickly shut down any further scoring opportunities as Showell struck out the final batter.

In the bottom of the third, Malad stacked up four runs despite two outs against them.  Hubbard began the scoring as he singled on a hard ground ball to left field to send in Green.  With the bases full, Peterson drove another single to left field, giving the chance for Briggs and Hubbard to add runs to the Dragon score.  A final run for the inning came as Blaisdell was  walked on with the bases loaded, sending Ky Willie in across home plate.

Try as they might, the Cougars couldn’t keep pace with the Dragon runs.  Showell pitched another strikeout to open the fourth inning, followed by two outs in right field from Blaisdell.   They did find some measured success in the fifth inning as they put up two runs.  But any chance for a comeback was dashed as Malad pounded in six runs in the bottom of the sixth to put them up by 10.

It was the combination of a keen eye and a strong hitting game that allowed the Dragons to score run after run in what would be the final inning of the game.  Kurt Ward watched patiently as Firth threw four consecutive pitches outside the strike zone.  Hubbard, next in the lineup, hit a line drive to left field on his first pitch, putting up 4 hits on his 4 at bats, scoring 2 runs and batting in 2 others.

On his second pitch, Peterson was hit by the ball to send him on base and load the bases.  Jensen was walked on base, sending Hubbard in for the score.  Poulson stepped up to the plate next, to hit a double-bagger to right field to send Willie and Peterson home for two more runs.  Showell walked on to load the bases once again before Montgomery hit a fly ball to left field to bat in Jensen for the final run of the game.

It looked like the Dragons were going to sweep their home games for the week as they hosted Wendell in their second game of the season.  Up 3-2 as they ended the sixth inning, the game was looking very different from the heavy loss they suffered on the Trojan’s field.  

Converting their two hits of the inning into runs, the Trojans took a one run lead over the Dragons.  Unfortunately, the Wendell defense got the best of the Malad hitters and they were unable to recover their lead, ending the game down 3-4.

More than halfway through the regular season, the Dragons are seeing great progress in all aspects of their game.  From the mound the pitchers are honing in their game and building stamina to throw harder and longer in each game.  From behind the plate, they are hitting stronger and more strategically to have more on base hits to convert into scoring runs.  

Before the month closes out, Malad will play three more games, traveling to Bear Lake on Wednesday, April 24, hosting American Falls on Saturday, April 27, and then taking on Snake River in Blackfoot on Monday, April 29.