The post-season games for the MHS baseball have had a new look this season, a change elevating only the best teams of the state to the final season tournament.  Now playing a regional series tournament following the district tournament, it is only the top four teams of the state that will play it out at the state championship games.

MHS Head Coach Jeff Snow is all for the change and is pumped that his top ranked team has the opportunity to play at such a high level and stage.  To earn their place at the state series, the Malad baseball had one objective- win the true double elimination tournament May 9 and 10.

As district champions, Malad was honored to host the regional tournament, putting Parma and Grangeville on the road as they came to compete.  Seeded second in the tournament, Malad was pitted against Parma in their opening game.  The Panthers put up a challenge for the Dragons, playing a tough defense that made each hit and run well earned. 

The Dragons scored their first run in the bottom of the second inning.  After collecting their first out, Brady Showell hit a single, getting on base as the Parma pitcher committed an error.  Ky Willie followed at the plate, sacrificing his out to advance Showell to second base.  As Easton Green was up to bat, Showell advanced to third base as the pitcher threw a wild pitch.  Seeing the catcher scrambling for the ball, Showell turned the corner to come in across home for the first Malad run of the game.

The game was all about defense as both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning.  Brycen Howe was on the mound for Malad, a threat the Panthers struggled to overcome.  Over seven innings, the hurler threw 98 pitches, committing zero errors, surrendering zero runs while allowing 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 10 batters.  

Backing up their pitcher, Malad played flawless defense to keep Parma from making their way around the bases.  At third base, Showell led the defense with 4 putouts, with Carter Blaisdell and Willie each adding 2.  In the top of the fifth, the Panthers managed to load the bases, knocking on the door of their first score.  Howe won the battle at the plate, sneaking pitches in the strike zone past the batter as he swung and missed.  

With two outs against Parma, a final out would keep them scoreless.  The count tallied a ball and then a strike before the Panther batter put the ball in play.  But third baseman Showell scooped up the hit to force the out and end the inning in the Dragon’s favor.

Malad added two more runs to extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, courtesy of Braxden Kaufman and Green.  Neither team managed a run the remaining innings of the game to close it out Malad 3, Parma 0.

Winning the opening game, the Dragons advanced to the semi-final matchup to play against #1 seed Grangeville, an opponent Malad had previously played in the season, winning 4-2.  Despite having already played seven innings, the MHS was more than ready to take the field again.

Grangeville opened the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the first inning.  Malad responded with four runs in second to take the lead.  A run in the fourth and fifth inning expanded their lead 6-1 until they bookended their game with four final runs.  Kurt Ward started the scoring with a homerun, his first of the season.  Grangeville battled back at the plate, punching in four runs in part to a triple and a double.  Carter Blaisdell, coming in to pitch against the final batters, struck out two to force the final outs of the game.  

The 10-5 landed the Dragons in the championship round, the only question remaining was who they would face off against.  Before the final game on Saturday, May 10, Grangeville and Parma played out seven innings to determine Malad’s challenger, ending with Grangeville up 18-7.

Malad didn’t hesitate when they went to bat, Cale Briggs hitting a single on his first at bat to get on base.  Holdyn HIgley followed with a sacrifice bunt, advancing Briggs around to third.  Briggs finished his trip around the bases as Blaisdell hit a single in shortstop territory.  With Blaisdell on first base, Carter Carey stepped up to the plate, pounding the ball to right field for a home run to extend the Dragon lead by two more.  

Just a few plays later with Willie on first and Showell on third, Willie found an opening to steal second base.  As Grangeville attempted to get him out, Showell took off for home, taking advantage of the engaged defense to steal home plate and add a final score of the inning. 

That same energy carried the Dragon offense through the game as they continued to pull away from Grangeville.  Briggs punched a double line drive to center field on his first pitch of the second inning, getting the hitting started in a momentous way.  Higley, Blaisdell and Carey  followed with base hits, scoring two more runs for Malad before collecting three outs.  

With high effort and high energy, the MHS team scored inning after inning while keeping Grangeville scoreless.  The Dragon defense was fronted by Ward on the mound who committed zero errors, allowed zero runs on 3 hits, walking 3 while striking out 11.  Blaisdell, at shortstop, collected 2 putouts with Higley and Howe each adding 1.

Playing in the bottom of the fifth, Malad tallied up two quick outs and were forced to have solid hitting if they were to finish the game early.  With a full count, Showell hit a single line drive to right field to get a man on base for the Dragons.  Willie followed with another base hit to left field, advancing Showell to second base.  Letting the first outside pitch go, Ward ripped through the second, sending a line drive to center field.  As they have been coached all season in this sort of situation, Showell took off running as soon as he heard the crack of the bat.  Rounding third base, Showell easily skated across home plate for a final MHS run. 

After adding a tenth run to their score in the bottom of the fifth inning, the game was called with the Malad Dragons named as the 3A Southeast Regional Champions.  Coach Snow couldn’t have been more proud of his team as he commented, “We dominated this tournament all the way around.  Malad should be so proud of these boys!”

Looking ahead at the state tournament, Malad as the fourth seed will join teams from Orofino, Marsing, and Nampa Christian as they battle through a true double elimination tournament.  The Dragons will first play on Thursday, May 15 at 7 pm against #1 seed Orofino.  While some might not think it an ideal first game, Coach Snow thinks otherwise as he said, “I love that we are playing the #1 seed first, to come at them straight out of the gate.  It’s going to be a knock down, drag out sort of game.”