Baseball roundup: Late-inning pain for Bishop Kelly, Homedale in title game losses

Bishop Kelly was three outs away from its third state championship in four seasons.

Instead, an infield error helped Moscow’s Jack Driskill come home with the winning run to take the 4A state tournament title away from the Knights on Saturday afternoon at Vallivue High School.

No. 4 seed Bishop Kelly (18-10) led 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Jamison LaMott-Strasser surrendered leadoff walks to Ethan McLaughlin and Driskill. A line-drive shot down the right field line from Connor Isakson scored McLaughlin to tie the game.

“We’ve been working through Connor Isakson’s ability to roll over all year long, and he comes up in a spot where we would bunt 99 out of 100 times,” Moscow coach Griffin Rod said. “So we chose to go away from what we’ve done all year and allow Connor the opportunity to do something special.”

Moscow’s Tommy Holt hit a grounder to Bishop Kelly third baseman Dean Herkenrath in the next at-bat, and his throw to first was out of reach for Joe Stroschein, allowing Driskill to race home and give Moscow a walk-off victory.

“(Moscow) clutched up,” Bishop Kelly coach Jeff Cammann said. “They got baserunners on when they needed to, and got the runs across when it was that time of the game.”

Baserunners were a recurring theme for the No. 2 Bears (20-7). They scored three runs in the opening inning with RBI singles from Driskill and Isakson, and two bases-loaded situations helped Moscow grab two more runs in the second and third innings.

Driskill went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, while Isakson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. The Bears also used 10 walks to threaten in nearly every inning.

Despite that, Bishop Kelly fought back. The Knights used a Moscow error and three consecutive bunts to cut a 5-1 deficit to 5-2. Gianni Caltagirone smashed a two-run single, and a sacrifice fly eventually brought Caltagirone home to tie the score at 5.

Bishop Kelly broke that tie with a live-drive hit from Nathan Rapp in the top of the seventh inning, scoring Herkenrath, who finished 2-for-3 and scored two runs.

Lamont-Strasser was the losing pitcher in the contest, but he gave up just one hit and struck out four in 3-plus innings.

“(Lamott-Strasser) did a hell of a job,” Cammann said. “For him to come in when he did in that situation and throw up zeros after zeros, I couldn’t be more proud of that kid. He pitched his heart out.

“No one in the state thought we would be (in the state championship game) except for us. The players believed it, and this group of kids can do some pretty special things.”

Skyview 10, Pocatello 0: Caden Yesford threw a five-inning no-hitter and struck out six as the Hawks (24-3) captured the 4A consolation trophy.

Mason Krahn went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, and Grady Daniels and Yesford both added doubles as top-seeded Skyview bounced back from a first-round loss to finish the season with a trophy.

3A

Sugar-Salem 10, Homedale 9: The top-seeded Trojans were one out from a state title Saturday at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa.

It turned out to be a really difficult out to get.

Sugar-Salem, the No. 2 seed, rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh inning and held on for the win despite a Homedale rally in the bottom half.

With two outs, the Diggers got three straight run-scoring singles from Sam Chappell, Hank Carter and Latrell Markle to take a 10-7 lead. The Trojans (23-5) got a run-scoring single from Dillon Fine and a balk for another run in the bottom of the inning, but fell short.

Fine went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI in the game, and Jayden Wutherich was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Parma 7, South Fremont 0: Kaden Cole fired a two-hit shout and struck out 10 in the 3A consolation final.

Jacob Mikelson led the Panthers (9-19) at the plate, going 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Braxton Heffelinger also went 1-for-2 with a double.

2A

Cole Valley Christian 8, Nampa Christian 2: The Chargers scored eight unanswered runs after falling into a 2-0 deficit in the first inning to run away with the 2A consolation trophy.

Blake Wilson earned the complete-game victory for Cole Valley Christian (23-7), holding a conference rival to two earned runs (zero earned) on two hits.

Wilson also went 3-for-4 at the plate, and teammate Noah Grimm finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

This story was originally published May 18, 2024 at 10:46 PM.