Owyhee, Eagle baseball roll into district finals. They clinched another prize, too
A couple big innings and two shutdown performances on the mound secured Owyhee and Eagle a spot in the championship game of the 6A District Three baseball tournament Thursday.
Top-seeded Owyhee (21-5) will try to defend its district crown at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Fort Boise Park. Meanwhile, No. 2 Eagle (18-5) gets a chance to avenge a pair of mercy-rule losses to its crosstown rival this season.
Both teams clinched their regional berths Thursday, as well. Winning a district semifinal ensures both Owyhee and Eagle receive home-field advantage and a first-round bye in next weekend’s three-team regional tournaments.
For the second straight year, the winner of those regional playoffs advance to the four-team state tournament.
OWYHEE 16, MIDDLETON 1 (5 innings): A budding pitcher’s duel at Timberline High turned into a laugher as the Storm pounced on a litany of Middleton mistakes to trigger the mercy rule.
Owyhee batted around in both the third and fourth innings, hanging an eight on the scoreboard in each frame. Middleton issued three walks, plunked three batters and committed a pair of errors in the two innings. But Owyhee catcher Nathan Keith said the Storm didn’t sit around waiting for a free pass.
Owyhee took the command issues as a reason to stay aggressive and find a pitch to tee off. The approach paid off with a trio of back-breaking hits.
Christian Zannitto opened the floodgates with a two-run single in the third. Keith then added a two-run double into the right-field corner in the fourth, followed directly by Zander Jakovac’s two-run single to cap the scoring.
“If they’ve been walking a bunch of guys or hit the guy before me, personally, I’m going up there sitting middle middle,” said Keith, who finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs. “The last thing they want to do is hit another guy or walk another guy. So their next pitch is bound to be the best pitch you’ve seen all night.”
Those 16 runs proved more than enough for Zannitto on the mound. The Owyhee junior surrendered his only run in the second inning after back-to-back hits. He then retired the next 11 batters he faced to finish the five-inning complete game giving up one run on two hits with three strikeouts.
Zannitto only needed 67 pitches to improve to 7-0 with a 0.64 ERA, and he faced just two batters over the minimum.
“He has proven to all the guys that just give me a couple runs, and we’ll be fine,” Owyhee coach Matt Rasmussen said. “... We just play different behind him because we know he’s going to go out there and compete and hold teams down, even really good offenses.”
The loss drops Middleton (17-9) into the losers’ bracket, where the Vikings face Ridgevue (11-11) at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Timberline. The winner clinches a spot in the regional round.
EAGLE 5, MOUNTAIN VIEW 1: The Mavericks entered Thursday with the 6A classification’s top offense, averaging 9.8 runs per game. But that lineup proved no matchup for Eagle senior Stephen Egan.
The right-hander silenced all those powerful bats Thursday at Timberline, holding Mountain View to a single unearned run while scattering five hits and striking out three for the complete-game victory.
“My two-seam and slider was working really well,” Egan said. “They couldn’t really get under the two-seam, which led to a lot of ground balls and weak contact. I felt like they just had no idea what was coming the whole time.”
Eagle’s infield ate up all those ground balls, particularly sophomore shortstop Brandon Zins. The Mustangs only promoted Zins to the full-time varsity roster a couple weeks ago. But he turned three double plays up the middle by himself, and he was the pivot man in Eagle’s fourth and final double play in the seventh inning.
All those double plays snuffed out any potential Mountain View rally before it could get started. And Egan said they provided him a confidence boost on the mound.
“He’s been going back and forth all year long for us,” Eagle coach Scott Deck said. “As we had him and as we saw him get some varsity experience, we just felt, ‘OK. This is the time to bring him over.’
“He’s played all over the place: second, third, short. But it just feels like short is his home. He’s just very calm and has a high baseball IQ.”
Eagle batted around in the first inning to stake Egan an early 4-0 lead. Kristian Fusco started the parade with a double to right-center field, then traded places with Sam Palfreyman after another double.
Owen Brent added an RBI single for the Mustangs’ third straight hit, and a Mountain View error made it 4-0 Eagle before many Maverick fans had taken their seats.
Mountain View never seriously threatened from there. The Mavericks scored their only run in the sixth inning, when Beckham Hatfield reached on a walk, stole second and third base, then crossed home plate on the Mustangs’ lone error.
Mountain View (19-5) still holds three more chances to advance to regionals after Thursday’s loss. A win against Centennial (15-11) at 4 p.m. Friday at Timberline clinches a berth. Lose, and Mountain View can still play its way in via the fifth-place game Saturday.
The Mavericks also entered Thursday as the No. 1-ranked team in the MaxPreps.com rankings. So they are nearly assured an at-large berth even with two more losses.
RIDGEVUE 1, BOISE 0 (8 innings): Junior JoJo Bitonti finally broke the pitcher’s duel and stalemate in the tournament’s losers’ bracket, sending a walk-off single through the left side of the infield to score Dante Brinegar from second base at Fort Boise.
Ridgevue’s Preston Wade did the bulk of the work on the mound for the shutout, tossing 6 ⅓ scoreless innings while giving up three hits and striking out six. He then gave way to Roberto Valadez, who didn’t allow a hit through the final 1 ⅔ innings for the victory.
Boise’s Brennan Davis earned the no decision after 7 ⅓ scoreless innings. He surrendered three hits while striking out six.
The Brave (11-16) must now wait until the final MaxPreps.com rankings are revealed Sunday to learn if they qualified for one of five at-large berths in regionals.
CENTENNIAL 12, BORAH 2 (5 innings): The Patriots made quick work of the Lions (5-22) in the losers’ bracket, racking up seven hits while taking advantage of three errors and five walks.
Daniel Morrison led the Centennial onslaught, triggering the 10-run mercy rule with a three-run double in the fifth inning. He went 1-for-2 with five RBIs, and Cannon Haws added a 1-for-3 day with three RBIs.
This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 10:21 PM.
