5A state baseball recap: Boise-area teams sweep first round. How the SIC dominated (again)
Boise-area pitchers and teams dominated the first round of the 5A baseball state tournament Thursday, clinching every spot in the semifinals for the third straight time.
The performance guarantees the state champion will hail from the Treasure Valley for the fifth straight season.
The semifinal matchups Friday at Caldwell’s Wolfe Field are:
- No. 1 Mountain View (22-3) vs. No. 5 Owyhee (18-9), 4 p.m.
- No. 2 Rocky Mountain (21-6) vs. No. 3 Timberline (21-4), 6:30 p.m.
Below is a recap of all four first-round games Thursday.
[Related: 5A to 1A baseball state tournament scores, brackets]
5A BASEBALL STATE TOURNAMENT
Mountain View 1, Idaho Falls 0: In a battle of the two of the state’s best pitchers, a sophomore came out on top and handed a Division I-bound senior the first loss of his high school career.
Mountain View sophomore Will Grizzle fired a four-hit shutout and struck out 11 Thursday, leading the top-ranked Mavericks (22-3) to another big win in a big moment.
He also threw a four-hit shutout and struck out 11 in Game 1 of the district championship series last week.
“He looks forward to the moment. He’s a competitor,” Mountain View coach Matt Rasmussen said. “There’s some kids that shine in a big moment. He’s a kid that has never had fear or backed down from that.”
That big moment Thursday featured a matchup with No. 8 Idaho Falls (17-12) and senior pitcher Merit Jones, a Utah signee who sported a 16-0 career record entering the state tournament.
The duo put up zeros until the fifth inning, when the Mavericks scratched out a single run in an odd series of circumstances. Tyson Grow struck out swinging on a breaking ball well outside the zone, but it slipped past Idaho Falls catcher Hayden Carlson for a wild pitch, allowing Grow to run to first safely.
Logan Burrell’s sacrifice bunt moved Grow to second, and a Jones balk advanced him to third. The balk proved crucial as Burrell scored on Jack Barker’s groundout to shortstop, capping a trip around the bases after a strikeout.
“We knew coming in the seeding doesn’t really matter, especially when you’re facing an arm like they had,” Rasmussen said. “Their kid was as advertised. He’s really good, and we knew we were in for that type of fight.”
Grizzle struck out the side in the sixth and then put the Tigers away in the seventh, stretching his scoreless streak to 15 innings, improving his record to 7-0 and dropping his ERA to 1.00.
“I knew I had to come in and just shove,” Grizzle said. “And I think I did it.”
Owyhee 6, Lewiston 4: The Storm have only a single senior on the roster, but he stepped up when it mattered most Thursday.
Drayton Black sliced a two-out, two-run double down the right-field line in the bottom of the sixth inning, leading No. 5 Owyhee (18-9) to a come-from-behind victory in the first-year program’s state tourney debut.
“It’s wonderful. It’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” said Black, who transferred from Mountain View. “To be able to transfer over here my senior year and take these boys to the semifinals is just amazing. But the job’s not done yet.”
The Storm started the season with few outside expectations, finishing eighth out of 12 teams in the 5A SIC preseason coaches’ poll. But a young Owyhee lineup grew quickly and enters the state semifinals as winners of eight of their past nine games.
“I’m really, really proud of these kids, honestly,” Owyhee coach Russ Wright said. “I’m not sure anybody expected it except maybe the guys in our circle, especially when we didn’t start out as hot as we’d like to early. But they’ve really figured it out as of late.”
No. 4 Lewiston (21-6) pitcher Carson Kolb fooled Black with a curveball in his first at-bat. But the senior waited for a fastball in the sixth inning, and he placed the ball inches inside the right-field foul line to erase a 3-2 deficit, and now he and the Storm have a rematch with his former team.
Mountain View swept a pair of regular-season matchups with Owyhee, 3-2 and 3-0. The Mavericks are the only team to beat the Storm in the past month.
“We’ve lost twice to them so far this year, but they’ve been tight head-to-head battles,” Black said. “Right now we’re on a roll, so I think we got them tomorrow.”
Rocky Mountain 7, Borah 0: Luke Hines threw a walk-off wild pitch that cost the Grizzlies in the state semifinals last season. But he earned some redemption Thursday.
The senior left-hander dominated the Borah lineup, holding it to five hits and striking out 11 in a shutout to carry No. 2 Rocky Mountain (21-6) back to the semifinals.
“Especially with me throwing the pitch last year, I just felt good going in and emotional going in,” Hines said. “But the job’s not finished.”
Hines retired the first 11 batters he faced and 12 of the first 13 before running into trouble in the fifth. The No. 7 Lions (16-12) loaded the bases with one out. But Hines rebounded and struck out the next two batters to escape the jam.
Thursday’s outing improved Hines’ record to 7-1 and dropped his ERA to 0.71. So Rocky Mountain coach Stephan Zanoni had no hesitation to hand him the ball at the site of one of his lowest moments.
“He had the body of work that he’s put forward this year that allowed me to have the confidence to say, ‘You’re our guy. Here’s the ball,’” Zanoni said. “... When he’s in the zone, he’s pretty dang tough to hit.”
Rocky Mountain’s bats also awoke from their late-season slumber Thursday. The Grizzlies ended a streak of 20 scoreless innings when Derek Schumacher opened the fourth with a double into the right-center field gap.
Schumacher turned to the Rocky Mountain dugout, grunted and waved his arms like a monkey, signaling the Grizzlies had finally knocked the monkey off their back. His teammates proved him right, breaking loose for four runs in the inning, including a two-run single from sophomore Jordan Ellett in his first varsity appearance.
“We just really needed to catch a break,” Zanoni said. “We needed one ball to fall and get a little confidence behind us and get some momentum. … Once we saw that first one fall, we were able to get in the flow of our offense a little bit, get a bunt down, and went from there.”
Timberline 3, Highland 0: A few early-season losses and injuries led to whispers that the reigning state champs had lost a step. But Kailer Saunders dispelled those rumors Thursday.
The senior right-hander fired a one-hit shutout and struck out six to send No. 3 Timberline (21-4) to the semifinals for the fourth time in the past five tournaments.
“I’m just proud of how far we’ve come from the beginning of the season,” Saunders said. “Everyone doubted us at the beginning, and we’re here now. We’re here to prove everyone wrong.”
To be fair, Timberline started the year as the heavy favorite in the 5A SIC. Back-to-back losses to in March to start conference play revealed some vulnerabilities. But the Wolves head into the semifinals as winners of 13 of their past 14 games.
Saunders carried the Wolves on Thursday, limiting Highland to a Drew Hymas single in the second inning. Saunders credited his slider for keeping the Rams off balance. He didn’t overpower hitters, allowing a base runner in five of seven innings. But every time the Rams tried to string together a rally, he quickly extinguished the threat.
“We’re going to miss that kid a lot,” Timberline coach Casey Coberly said. “He is the ultimate competitor, what we call a dog. … He’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached. I’ve been coaching for 10 years now, and he’s maybe the best competitor.”
Timberline provided the game’s only offense with three runs in the fourth inning. Dom Iglesias kick-started the frame with a nine-pitch at-bat that ended with a single. The Wolves loaded the bases for Saunders, who drew a walk for the game’s first run. Shortstop Carter Walsh then followed with a two-run single up the middle — more than enough support for Saunders.
“We got some insurance runs out there, and it let me kind of relax and do my thing,” Saunders said. “After that, it was pretty much over.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 12:55 PM.
