The Lady Dragons took on two stellar teams in their most recent week of games, playing against the 4A Sugar/Salem Diggers and the 6A Weber Warriors.  Splitting the games, the MHS team found their opponents to provide a formidable challenge, pushing them to compete at a higher level throughout both contests.

The MHS team hosted the Diggers Tuesday, March 24, opening the game with their tough defense on full display.  The first Sugar/Salem batter connected with the pitch, bouncing it to second base Stella Merja.  Scooping up the ball, she passed it to Kialey Pickett on first base for the out.  Pitcher Liddia Gonzalez threw two back to back strikeouts to finish off the inning half.

The Lady Dragons had similar disappointment at the plate, connecting with few but unable to make any progress around the bases.  The defense taking the field once more as they moved on to the second inning, the MHS team once again forced three quick outs on three batters.  

Senior Logan Maroney started the hitting for Malad, hitting a fly ball to center field.  Maci Arnout took the place on base for Maroney, ready with running shoes laced up.  Nearly as soon as Sarah Toone took her first pitch, Arnout began advancing her way around the bases.  Now on second, she took off as Toone’s hit landed in center field, Coach Aysha Maddox signaling her to round third and head to home base to rack up the first run of the game.

Battling at the plate with a 2-2 count, Harley Maddox pounded a fly ball to left field.  Waiting for her pitch, Kyndall Tanner walked on first base to load the bases.  Scoring within reach, Kendra Rupp slapped a short hit within reach of the Digger catcher.  Racing Toone coming in from third base, the catcher managed the out to foil the run attempt.  

The bases loaded again but two outs against them, a measure of unsurety began to creep in.  Gonzalez stepped into the batter’s box to take her pitch and place a hit to left field to punch in Maddox for the long anticipated run.  Making a momentous play, Merja doubled to fly ball to center field, earning three RBIs as they sent in Gonzalez, Tanner, and Rupp.  Aubrey Shulz topped off the scoring for the inning as she hit another double to center field to bat in Merja and bring the score to 6-0.

The defense was concentrated at first base where all three Sugar/Salem outs were forced.  Shaking things up, the Diggers went for the bunt hit in an attempt to get a runner on base.  Ready for such a play, Pickett scooped up the short hit, turning to first base to connect with Merja covering in her absence to earn the out.  Pickett caught the pop fly in foul territory on the next play before getting the final out after a dropped third strike.  

Hoping for a repeat of their latest inning, Malad got two runners on base.  But an infield fly ball and two strikeouts prevented any scoring runs.

The fourth inning proved successful for both the Digger and Lady Dragon offenses, each scoring a run for the inning.  The 7-1 score would remain throughout the remaining two and a half innings, the Diggers never able to close the gap on the scoreboard.  

“Sugar-Salem is a good team,” acknowledged Coach Maddox.  She continued, “It was a good game defensively, probably one of the first games where the girls had a lot of action in the field and they stepped up to make the plays.  Liddia did have 8 strikeouts, but that left a lot of plays for the defense.”

She also praised the Lady Dragon defense as she said, “We had one really good inning where we scored six runs early on, and that was huge.  We found some momentum and kept running it.”

Traveling to Weber Friday, March 27, the MHS team didn’t find the same rhythm and success as they battled the warriors.  All seemed well in their first at bats, Gonzalez and Merja landing on base.  But then a caught fly ball in foul territory and double play at third and home, the possibility for a scored run was quickly over.

On the flip side, Weber opened their batting with a triple, the runner rounding the bases on an MHS error to take a 1-0 lead.  Two batters down, a home run expanded their lead before Malad could finally force three outs.  

In the top of the second inning, the Lady Dragons once again started in a positive way with two runners on base.  But similar to the first inning, they suffered a picked off pop fly before lining into a double play at second to end the inning half.

The Warriors took control of the game in the bottom of the second, punching in seven runs before Malad was able to make the right adjustments to stop their roll.  Learning from the tough inning, the MHS tightened their defense to keep Weber scoreless through the remaining innings, a great accomplishment.  However, the offense struggled to make headway on the scoreboard, Maroney scoring the only run of the game in the top of the third inning.

Suffering their first loss of the season 9-1, Malad admits the game wasn’t their best.  Whether it was the intimidation of a big Utah school or something else, the slow defensive start was more than they could bounce back from.  While the MHS offense never seemed to gain momentum, it wasn’t for lack of hitting, rather that the hits they did have didn’t land in the gaps they would have liked. 

Learning and growing from both the win and the loss now behind them, the Lady Dragons next look to play in West Side on Wednesday, April 8.  The following weekend the team will travel to Glenn’s Ferry to compete in the annual tournament where they will take on Nampa Christian, Wilder, Glenn’s Ferry, and Grangeville.