With a happy turn in the weather, the Dragon baseball team are officially up and running with their 2023 spring season.  It has been a long wait for the team to get out on the field and coaches, players and their fans are excited to see them set to play.  The Dragons spent their week on the road, playing first in Preston on Thursday, April 6, and then traveling to Green Canyon the following day.

  At Preston, Malad’s defense started the game out strong, taking three outs on the first 3 at bats.  Third baseman Stetson Higley, scooped up a ground ball and fired it over to Brycen Howe at first base to get the first out of the inning.  Pitcher Brady Showell struck out Preston’s second batter.  Showell got the third out as well as he covered first base as Howe sent the ball in.  The Dragons weren’t able to get far as they went to bat in the bottom of the second inning, getting three outs in four at bats.  In fact, it wasn’t until the final inning that they finally found some momentum that put points up on the scoreboard.

Dex Maroney was first up to bat for Malad, smacking the ball to the outfield and making it to first base.  Sawyer Poulsen, followed by Jaden Ward, took a base after the pitcher walked both to first base.  With the bases loaded, Ryan Hubbard hit a grounder near second base batting in Maroney for another Dragon run.  Higley was next up to bat, singling on a line drive to center field and sending Poulson across home.  Gaiden Combs followed in the batting order, and with a full count, failed to connect with the ball.  

With only one out left in the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Jensen stepped up to the plate to hit a single to right field and bat in Ward.  Higley and Jensen were able to score on the next play as Howe hit another single to the outfield, to bring the Dragons up just two runs shy of Preston’s eight.

The team hit the bus the following day to play in Logan against the Green Canyon Wolves.  Green Canyon took the lead in the opening inning and a third run in the second inning.  Malad was scoreless until the seventh inning, managing two runs by Maroney and Ward, taking advantage of errors by Green Canyon.  Unfortunately, at the top of the inning the Wolves fell into a groove, earning nine runs before Malad forced three outs, ending the game Malad 2, Green Canyon 12.

The Dragons have a packed weekend of baseball coming up.  They will face Marsh Valley on Thursday, April 13 before making their way to the Glenns Ferry tournament to be played Friday and Saturday.