Allison Eliason 

Even as the spring softball season begins to wind down, the Lady Dragons continue to dominate their competitors, most recently taking down district opponents, the Bear Lake Bears and the West Side Pirates.  With two more wins to their record, the Lady Dragons sit 18-0-1, with only three scheduled games left to their season.

Having previously beaten the Bears on their home field, it was no surprise to watch Malad outscore Bear Lake 11-0 in only five innings.  The MHS team jumped to an early lead as Teagan Daniels and Hallie Horsley put up two runs in the top of the first inning, but it was the seven runs in the second inning that really made a statement.

Despite having two quick outs in the top of the second inning, the Lady Dragons were able to expand the 2-0 to 9-0.  Aubrey Shulz started off the scoring after getting walked on base and found her way around to home base on Bear Lake errors and wild pitches.  Liddia Gonzalez, courtesy runner for catcher Logan Moroney, scored next after Riglee Peterson hit a fly ball to right field to bat her in.  With Peterson on first and Bostyn Combs on third, Horsley stepped up to the plate to send a home run over the fence on her first pitch behind the plate to put them up 7-0.

Adley Kimberling followed with a grounder to shortstop before Kaitlyn Pickett was walked on base.  Making their way around the lineup, Shulz found herself at the plate once again.  But instead of walking on base, the sophomore hit a double-bagger to right field, punching in Kimberling and Pickett for the last runs of the inning.

The Lady Dragons put up two more back to back runs in the top of the fourth inning.  The bases were loaded as Maroney hit a grounder to shortstop who made the play at first for the out while Shulz ran across home plate for the run.

Waiting on third base, Daniels seized the opportunity for a final score to run in as Combs stepped up to the plate.  On the first throw, the Bear Lake hurler threw a high wild pitch.  Leaving home plate uncovered, the catcher turned around to grab the ball and toss it to the pitcher coming in to help.  But their efforts were all for naught as Daniels came running down the base path, sliding into home under the passed ball.

The MHS defense played a flawless game with zero errors.  Maroney led the team with 6 putouts with Pickett and Horsley each adding 3.  From the mound, Peterson pitched the 5 inning game, facing 16 batters, striking out 10, allowing only 1 hit and zero runs without walking any.

After a rainy weekend that canceled their Friday and Saturday games, the Lady Dragons were back on the field Monday, April 29 to take on the Pirates in West Side.  In their first faceoff of the season, it was easy to see that the Pirates were no match for the Lady Dragons.  

In a near-repeat of their opening against West Side, Malad put up two runs in the first followed by seven runs in the second.  And from there they didn’t slow down, adding one more run in the third, three more in the fourth and five in the fifth inning.

Powerhouse Horsley led the team from behind the plate as she had 3 runs on 2 hits on 5 at bats with 4 RBIs, including her ninth home run of the season.  Oglesbee had a home run as well, putting it over center field in the second inning.  Hadley Summers and Shulz added 3 runs a piece to the team tally, with Maroney and Pickett each putting up 2.

Following their district games, Head Coach Bri Adams commented, “The teams in our district are mostly in rebuilding years.  They struggle to stop us defensively.  Our bats are unstoppable in our district.”  Defensively she credits a lot of their success to their very talented pitchers, Peterson and Gonzalez, saying, “Riglee and Liddia are pitching amazingly right now!  I would never want to hit against them.”

The Lady Dragons have one final week of regular season games before they start into their postseason district tournament.  They will host Skyview Tuesday, April 30 before hitting the road to take on the Cardinals in Soda Springs on Wednesday, May 1.  They will finish their schedule at home on Friday, May 3 against West Side.