It was a dominating week for the Malad baseball team as they went 44-1 in a total of 16 innings against Snake River, Declo and Ogden.  Head Coach Chad Maroney celebrated his team’s incredible play saying, “What a fun week!  We definitely had some bats get hot!”  

The week’s play started on a great note when the Dragons took on the Snake River Panthers in Blackfoot on Tuesday, March 17.  The Dragons opened the inning with a pair of unanswered runs to be up 2-0 early in the game, neither team managing to circle the bases in the second inning.    

The MHS offense broke the game open with an explosive ten run inning in the third.  Dawsyn Peterson and Carter Carey were walked on base before the Dragons earned their first out.  Ethan Horsley followed with a double ground ball to left field, batting in Peterson and Carey.  Easton Green followed on base by taking the pitch to the sleeve, cousin Ky Willie loading the bases behind him.  WIth an error at third base, Horsley sprinted towards home to make it 5-0.

Green and Willie stealing their way around the  bases to third and second, Kurt Ward pounded a double line drive to center field to bat the pair in.  Finishing the lineup, Brooks Blaisdell walked to first before starting at the top, Peterson advancing runners and batting in Ward with a pop fly behind second. A single by Carey punched in Blaisdell and Peterson in to make the score 10-0.  Braxden Kaufman was next on base, reaching on an error by the Panther center fielder.  Horsley singled a line drive to right field on the first pitch, sending in courtesy runner Brayden Arnout and Kaufman for the final scores of the inning.  Getting caught stealing third, the Dragons collected their third out of the inning and took the field.

The Malad defense easily held Snake River in their next attempts at bat.  Cale Briggs scooped up the first hit, a ground ball at second, to get the first out.  Higley caught the pop fly at the pitcher’s mound to force the second out.  Peterson forced the third out, catching the oncoming runner stealing second.

The team’s stellar hitting and base running could hardly be deterred as they went to the plate in the third inning.  Beginning where they left off, the Dragon offense added three more runs by Willie, Ward, and Blaisdell.  The top of the 5th saw Willie and Briggs top off the scoring at 17-0, Peterson tripling on a line drive to punch in the final run of the game for Malad.  After three quick outs for Snake River in the bottom of the fifth, the game was called on account of the run rule.

Traveling to Declo for their midweek game, the Dragons allowed their only run of the week as they went 14-1.  Opening the game in a considerable way with seven runs, the Dragons gave up their only run of the game.  The Declo runner managed to get on base by wearing the pitch and only made his way back home by taking advantage of his teammates poor fortune at bat.

Returning back to hitting, the MHS team had another big in with four more runs.  Peterson started things off with a pop fly, earning an extra base as the right fielder bobbled the ball.  Carey singled behind him, setting the stage for the score.  Kaufman sailed the hit to left field, Peterson scoring on the hit.

With Carey on third and Kaufman on second, Horsley tripled on a line drive to right fielder to mark two RBIs and bring the score to 11- 1.  Ward followed with another big hit to center, hitting a double line drive to center field to bat in one more run for the inning.  

The third inning didn’t favor either team as they both went scoreless.  In the fourth, Kaufman, Ward and Higley topped off the scoring for Malad at 14.  

Defense dominated the remainder of the game, neither team adding to their score as they played through the top of the sixth inning.

Friday, March 20, the Dragons played their final game of the week as they hosted the Ogden Tigers in their second matchup of the season.  Winning another shutout game, the MHS team went 13-0 against the Tigers, scoring in each inning before ending it early in the fifth.

Ogden up to bat first, Willie picked up the first out as he caught the pop fly in center field.  Shortstop Peterson picked off the steal attempt at second base to snag the second out.  With a ground hit to second, Peterson forced the third out, sending the Dragons to the plate to bat.

Poor pitching by the Tigers proved a positive for Malad.  With Green, Carey, and Kaufman hit by the pitch and Horsley walking on base, the Dragons were set up for runs early in the game.  With the bases loaded, Ward connected with the pitch to hit a double line drive to center field to send in Kaufman, courtesy runner Arnout, and Horsley to put Malad up 4-0.

Malad’s defense continued to dominate the field, tracking outs at shortstop, second base, and foul territory outside first to put a quick end to Ogden’s offensive attempt.

The Dragons had their biggest inning as they scored five runs by Willie stealing home, Peterson doubling to bat in Briggs and Green, Kaufman punching in Peterson, and Horsley get the final RBI on a double to left.

Three more innings of a similar dominating fashion, the officials called the game for the Dragon’s third run rule of the week.   

Throughout the games, a number of players stepped up to make big gains for the Dragons including Peterson who went 3-for-4 at the plate, scored 3 runs, had 4 RBIs and 1 walk and Horsley who tallied 2-for-4 at bats with 4 RBIs against Snake River.  Against the Hornets, Ward played a perfect game behind the plate, going 3-for-3, scoring 2 runs, and one RBI.  Green’s stellar hitting moved him up in the lineup as he went 7 for 9 at the plate hitting .778 on the week.

Speaking with Coach Maroney and asking what his secret is for such a strong start to the season he said, “We continue to focus a lot of practice time on our defense.  Our defense is going to win the games.  Something clearly demonstrated as we only allowed 1 run in 3 games.  These boys are all solid players.” 

In addition to the great fielding, Coach Maroney also acknowledged the success from the pitchers mound, saying, “Our pitching has been on point.  I feel we have found a great starting rotation and had success bringing in relief to support it.”

The baseball team will have a light schedule going into the end of March, playing Sugar-Salem at home on Tuesday, March 24 before slowing day over the spring break and Easter holiday.