State baseball roundup: 3A Fruitland, 2A Nampa Christian to play for championships
Two local teams will play for state baseball championships Saturday in the small-school classifications, and one of them is going for its 28th win and gets to do so on its home field. The other school has made a surprise run to the finals.
3A STATE TOURNAMENT
Fruitland 20, Weiser 6: Trailing 5-2 heading to the fourth inning, the No. 7-seeded Grizzlies’ offense woke up, and then some, to cruise to a semifinal win.
Fruitland (17-10) scored six runs in the fourth, five in the fifth, two in the sixth and five in the top of the seventh to even its record against the Wolverines at 2-2 this season.
Having beaten No. 2 seed Kimberly in the first round and No. 3 seed Weiser to make the final, the Grizzlies will face No. 1 seed Marsh Valley in Saturday’s championship game at 4 p.m. at Northwest Nazarene University. Marsh Valley has yet to surrender a run in the state tournament while posting 13-0 and 10-0 victories over Bonners Ferry and Sugar-Salem, respectively.
Fruitland had 15 hits in its win over Weiser and several offensive stars. David Juarez had three hits and four RBIs, Landen Mendive had three hits and three RBIs, and Jace Mordhorst had two hits and drove in four runs.
Kimberly 10, Homedale 0: Jackson Cummings threw a one-hitter in a complete-game victory, striking out 12 Trojans to vault Kimberly into the consolation final.
Leadoff hitter D’Orr Packer had the lone hit for Homedale. The Bulldogs (21-4-1) scored runs in four straight innings to build a huge lead.
2A STATE TOURNAMENT
Nampa Christian 9, Malad 3: Daidan Glenn had a home run and four RBIs to lead the Trojans into Saturday’s championship game against Firth.
Glenn and Josh Tiersma had two hits apiece, and winning pitcher Carson Atwood struck out seven for Nampa Christian (27-2), which is hosting the tournament. The title game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Kyler Horsley led the Dragons (13-7-1) with three RBIs.
Firth 4, Melba 2: The Cougars (20-5) scored two runs in the first and two in the third to keep the 2A final from becoming an all-Treasure Valley affair.
Alejandro Vasquez had three hits and a stolen base for Firth.
Losing pitcher Jeff Fahey had seven strikeouts for the Mustangs (16-9), who will face Malad in Saturday’s third-place game.
1A STATE TOURNAMENT
North Star Charter 12, Rimrock 0: Joshua Ineck and the Huskies rolled into the consolation final with a shellacking of Rimrock.
Ineck allowed just one hit and struck out seven for North Star Charter (22-3). Dustin Ables had a 2-for-2 day with two doubles and an RBI.
North Star Charter will face Glenns Ferry at 9 a.m. Saturday at Capital High School.
Glenns Ferry 14, Garden Valley 4: Jesus Ortiz helped keep the season alive for Glenns Ferry (15-10), which advanced in the consolation bracket. The sophomore struck out five Wolverines (8-9) and surrendered only four hits.
This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 10:54 PM.