Allison Eliason

It was a blowout game for the Malad Dragon baseball team as they finished out their 2024 season against the Cardinals in Soda Springs on Thursday, May 2.  The MHS team was nearly flawless as they put up 27 runs on 20 hits in the short 3 innings.  From the field or behind plate, running bases or catching fly balls, Malad played a commanding game from the first pitch to the last.

The Dragons didn’t need any time to get in their groove as they stepped to the plate at the top of the first inning.  Easton Green, first to bat for Malad, connected with his first pitch to get a base hit to third base.  In perfect deja vu fashion, Dawson Peterson and Carter Blaisdell followed with single ground hits on their first pitches to load the bases in quick succession.  

Green didn’t even wait for the next base hit to score the first run for Malad.  Seeing an opening as the Soda Springs catcher chased after the loose ball, he made for home plate to begin racking up the runs for
the Dragons.

Two plays down the game, Peterson stole home as Ky Willie, courtesy runner for catcher Blaisdell, stole third, all before Rydon Montgomery had a single pitch at the plate.  When his throw finally came in, Montgomery hit a single line drive to center field, punching in Willie to put Malad up 3-0.

The scoring continued as Brady Showell sent a triple-bagger to right field to send Montgomery in.  Showell finished his way around the bases for the final score of the inning on a passed ball before Brycen Howe hit a single to left field.  Two more Dragon batters made their way on base before the Cardinals pulled together three outs and moved the game into the bottom of the inning.

Soda Springs found a little luck on their side in their first inning as they had base runners off two hits and a walk.  They were able to convert those hits into runs, making the score 5-2 before the Malad defense shut down their play.  After a single grounder hit to Hubbard on the mound, the Dragons made the crucial play to tag out the Cardinal runner as he made his way home, keeping them from scoring and bringing an end to the inning.

Starting from where they left off, Blaisdell hit another base hit to open the second inning for the Dragons.  Hubbard followed on base after getting hit by the pitch.  Timmy Jensen next sent a grounder into shortstop territory to bring in both courtesy runner Willie and Hubbard.  Montgomery singled a ground ball to left field to bat Jensen in, quickly bringing the score 8-2.

Malad continued to connect with the ball at the plate for base hits and then finished the job with stellar base running.  Advancing their way around on errors, slow passes, and strategically stolen bases, the Dragons found themselves up 14-2 before their first out of the inning.  

On the mound, Hubbard took care of business to quickly close out the second inning.  Throwing 9 strikes on 13 pitches, the hurler threw a no hitter to put his own offense back on the field.

If their hitting was on before, it was nothing short of remarkable as the team put up 13 runs on 13 hits, with two additional runners on base after getting hit by the pitch and another getting walked on to tally up an impressive 27 runs.

Over the three inning game, Montgomery led his team from behind the plate with 3 runs on 4 hits on 5 at bats, punching in 4 RBIs.  Peterson also had an impressive day hitting with 4 runs on 2 hits on 5 at bats and 2 RBIs.  Peterson and Willie each tallied up 2 stolen bases with Montgomery adding another.  Hubbard threw from the mound for the Dragons, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits, walking 1 and striking out 6 of the 13 batters he faced.

With their final regular season game behind them, the Malad baseball team is gearing up for the postseason district tournament games.  As the high seed in the tournament, they will host the games, the first being played between Bear Lake and Soda on Tuesday.  Malad will play the winner of game one on Wednesday, May 8 beginning at 4:30.