4A state baseball: Bishop Kelly, with ‘another wild’ win, heads back to title game
A banner hangs on the center-field fence at Bishop Kelly High School recounting the baseball team’s many state championships.
The Knights won their most recent title just last year. They also have hardware from 1995, 2000, 2008 and 2010 — and they’ll have a chance to add another year to the banner on Saturday.
Second-seeded Bishop Kelly built an early lead Thursday in the state semifinals against No. 6 Columbia and held on late to win 5-4.
The Knights (24-4) will face No. 4 Twin Falls, which upset top-seeded Middleton, in the championship game at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
“As soon as last year ended, that was the goal: Get back (to the state finals),” Bishop Kelly head coach Jeff Cammann said. “The guys have been working their butts off for it. We’ve got a great group and great senior leadership.”
Bishop Kelly lost just two starters and two relief pitchers from last year’s team, so the stage shouldn’t be too big for the Knights on Saturday.
“Last year, we had three of the craziest games I’ve ever played, and we had another wild one tonight,” Bishop Kelly pitcher Cooper Cammann said. “Now it’s just keeping that confidence up and keeping that momentum.”
The Knights built a 5-0 lead in the first two innings on Friday, thanks in part to runners scoring on wild pitches in both the first and second. Hadley Smith had a two-run single, and AJ Jones provided an RBI double.
Columbia (19-8) wouldn’t go away, though.
The Wildcats have made a habit out of finding ways to win in the postseason, beginning with upsets of Bishop Kelly and Middleton in the 4A District Three Tournament. They erased a six-run deficit to knock off Bonneville in the state quarterfinals on Thursday.
The Wildcats chipped away at Bishop Kelly’s lead. They scored a pair of runs in the third inning, one in the fifth thanks to an errant Bishop Kelly throw, and one in the sixth courtesy of another error by the Knights.
That’s as close as Columbia would get, though. Cooper Cammann took the mound in the sixth inning and gave up just one hit.
“I’ve got the best defense in the state behind me,” Cooper Cammann said. “I just wanted to compete on every pitch and it worked out.”
Columbia will face Middleton in the third-place game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bishop Kelly.
Twin Falls 2, Middleton 1: A dominant pitching performance carried Twin Falls for the second day in a row.
Otho Savage threw a complete game, struck out seven batters and limited No. 1 Middleton to three hits. No. 4 Twin Falls earned its first berth in the state championship game since 2017, when the Bruins won a title.
On Thursday, Nolan Hardesty pitched a complete game, striking out 13 and limiting Pocatello to three hits in the Bruins’ 7-1 win.
“It doesn’t matter how many games we win or lose during the season, our ultimate goal is to win in May when it counts,” Savage said.
Savage and Hardesty have carried the pitching staff this season, Twin Falls head coach Tim Stadelmeir said.
“They’ve really eaten a lot of our innings this season, and they both came on even stronger late in the season,” Stadelmeir said. “We’re kind of a streaky team. But we’re pitching, playing defense and running the bases well — all things you have to do this time of year.”
Twin Falls (18-10) made it to the 4A state semifinals last year before falling to Bishop Kelly. The Bruins lost five seniors from that team and their infield is young this spring, Stadelmeir said. But they expect to find themselves in position to play for a title every year.
“That’s not being arrogant, but we put in a lot of work and we expect nothing else,” Stadelmeir said. “We also know anything can happen once you get there.”
The Bruins found themselves trailing early on Friday after Middleton (25-4) put a run on the board in the first inning on a sacrifice bunt by Micah Mendiola.
Twin Falls answered in the third. Wyatt Solosabal got on base with a triple that carried all the way to the center-field fence. Jace Mahlke brought him home with a double that also made its way to the fence, and Savage drove in Mahlke for the 2-1 lead.
“It really is a team effort,” Savage said. “When our pitching is on, our hitting is on.”
Savage and Hardesty may have carried the Bruins to this point, but they won’t be able to power them past the finish line. Neither will be available to pitch in the championship game on Saturday because of Idaho High School Activities Association rules.
“We went with the mentality that there’s no tomorrow, so we’ve got to throw our best guys to get here,” Stadelmeir said. “But we have some kids I’m excited to throw out there and see how they compete on a big stage.”
Pocatello 5, Jerome 0: Hunter Killian pitched a complete-game shutout, struck out 13 batters and gave up just two hits as No. 5 Pocatello advanced in the consolation bracket with a win over No. 8 Jerome.
Pocatello (17-7) was led at the plate by JD Gunderson, who went 2-for-3 with two runs knocked in.
Sandpoint 7, Bonneville 2: Jack Zimmerman got on base with two triples and a single, scored two runs and recorded an RBI to keep No. 7 Sandpoint alive in the 4A state tournament with a win over No. 6 Bonneville. The Bulldogs’ Austin Dillon pitched all seven innings, striking out three and giving up six hits.
This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 10:38 PM.
