Taking their game on the road over the weekend, the Dragon baseball team tallied two wins after claiming the victory over conference opponents.  Winning 8-3 over the Wendell Trojans and 11-2 against the Declo Hornets, Malad finished their conference matchups undefeated to lead out in the 3A District.

It took the first two innings for the Dragons to put runs on the scoreboard, going without a run until the top of the third inning.  Fortunately their tough defense kept Wendell scoreless as well with their tough defense, despite the Trojans finding their way on base.  

The first inning defense made three quick outs, beginning with Rydon Montgomery as he saw the Wendell runner attempting to steal second after the second unhit pitch, beating him to the base to give Cale Briggs the assist on the out.  Brycen Howe at first base forced two outs to end the inning, making the play off of passes from Holden Higley and Brady Showell.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Trojans were up to bat with the bases loaded and the count full, hitting the ball wide of second base.  Not satisfied with merely any out, Briggs hurled the ball to Montgomery behind the plate to get the runner out advancing home and stop Wendell run.  With bases still full, Showell managed a strikeout before Easton Green caught the pop fly for the third and final out of the inning.

Green went to bat for Malad as they moved into the third inning, hitting a bunt to get on base.  As the Wendell pitcher bobbled the catch, Green made his way around to third base on the error.  Montgomery followed with another single base hit, punching Green in for the first Dragon score.  Courtesy runner Brayden Arnout stepped in to run bases for Montgomery, completing his way back to home as Higley hit an infield single, putting the lead 2-0.

Malad’s defense continued to hold the Wendell scoring bay with two more outs at first and a caught pop fly to left field.  Getting into a rhythm with their own offense, the Dragons put up two more runs in the third due not only to their hitting but their strategic base running as well.  Ethan Horsley, in to run bases for pitcher Showell, took advantage of the catcher’s error to steal second.  As they attempted to chase him down, he continued on to third base, rounding the plate to head for home, scoring before he could be called out.  

After being walked on, Green advanced his way around the bases as the Trojan pitcher battled it at the plate with Montgomery.  Sitting on third, Green ran across home as Montgomery hit a single line drive to right field for the second run of the inning, setting the score at 4-0.

Wendell managed their first run of the game in the fourth inning before collecting their third out.  Unphased by the score, Malad continued to stack up runs by Green, Briggs, and Showell in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to go up 8-1.  The Trojans added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth before both teams went scoreless in the final inning, ending the game 8-3.

Commenting on the game, Head Coach Jeff Snow said, “The Wendell game was an off outing for Brady Showell on the pitcher’s mound and it took us a minute to start hitting.  We executed pretty well on the base paths and bunting was working.  We got enough done to secure the win.”

Playing in Declo the following day for their second head to head of the season, Malad stepped up their game to win 11-2 in contrast to their previous 3-0 win earlier in the season.  The Dragon hitters slowly began accumulating runs, beginning in the second inning.  Up 5-2 at the top of the seventh inning, the MHS offense really got to work as they added 6 quick runs to cap off their score for the game.  

“We hit well at Declo,” shared Coach Snow.  He continued, “Kurt Ward, Brady Showell and a few others stepped up at the plate.  We have had two of our best hitters out with injuries so to get these wins and have the guys produce was huge for the team.”

On 3 at bats, Showell managed 3 runs on 1 hit and 1 walk while batting in 1.  Ward tallied 1 run on 3 hits on 4 at bats with 3 RBIs.

Pitching for the Dragons, Howe allowed only 2 runs on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 12.  Pleased with his pitcher, Coach Snow said, “Brycen Howe pitched really well again.  In 2 games he has faced Declo he has 27 strikeouts…pretty dang good.

“Behind the plate Rydon Montgomery has done an amazing job filling in for our injured starter Carter Carey,” continued Coach Snow as he continued to highlight players that stepped up to bring home the wins for Malad.

Tuesday, April 29 the Dragons will have their final game of the regular season at home as they host the Marsh Valley Eagles.  In their previous faceoff, Malad struggled to connect from behind the plate but the Dragons are ready to give them some trouble with their bats.  Leading the 3A conference, the Dragons will host the district tournament beginning Thursday, May 1.  If Malad wins the district tournament, they will host the regional tournament scheduled for the following weekend as well.

Malad @ Wendell

Friday, April 25, 2025

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H

Malad  0 0 2 2 2 2 0 8 6

Wendell 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 4

Lineup AB R H RBI BB

Cale Briggs 2 2 0 0 1

Holdyn Higley 3 0 2 1 0

Braxden Kaufman 3 0 1 1 1

Brady Showell 3 1 1 0 1

Ky Willie 3 0 1 1 1

Kurt Ward 2 0 0 0 0

Ethan Horsley 1 1 0 0 0

Brooks Blaisdell 1 0 0 0 0

Easton Green 2 3 0 0 2

Rydon Montgomery 4 0 1 2 0

Brycen Howe 3 0 0 0 0

TEAM TOTALS  27 8 6 5 6

Pitching IP H R BB SO

Brady Showell 7.0 4 3 5 3

Malad @ Declo

Saturday, April 26, 2025

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H

Malad  0 1 2 1 0 1 6 11 9

Declo 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 4

Lineup AB R H RBI BB

Cale Briggs 3 2 1 1 1

Holdyn Higley 2 1 0 0 1

Braxden Kaufman 3 0 1 1 0

Rydon Montgomery 3 1 0 0 0

Brady Showell 3 3 1 1 1

Kurt Ward 4 1 3 3 0

Ky Willie 4 0 1 0 0

Brooks Blaisdell 2 0 0 0 0

Ethan Horsley 2 1 0 0 0

Easton Green 2 2 1 0 1

TEAM TOTALS  28 11 9 7 4

Pitching IP H R BB SO

Brycen Howe 7.0 4 2 3 12