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Post Falls rallies again

| May 18, 2018 1:00 AM

BOISE — Falling behind early was no big deal for the Post Falls Trojans on the first day of the state 5A baseball tournament.

Post Falls trailed defending state champion Rocky Mountain of Meridian twice in the first four innings, then barged ahead by scoring the last five runs in an 8-4 victory over the Grizzlies on Thursday at Borah High’s Wigle Field.

It was Post Falls’ first win at state as a 5A school. The Trojans last played at state in 2006, when they were in 4A. The Trojans last won a game at state in the 2005 semifinals.

“That’s huge for the program, and huge for these guys’ confidence,” said Post Falls coach Mick Zeller, who also coached the Trojans those last two times they played at state. “We came from behind twice to beat Coeur d’Alene (in the regional tournament), and almost beat Lewiston. These guys believe. They could have gotten down, but came back scratching and clawing.”

Post Falls (16-11) will play Timberline (17-10) of Boise in the semifinals tonight at 5 p.m. PDT at Borah. Timberline, the only one of the four 5A Boise-area teams to win on the first day, beat Highland of Pocatello 17-5 in six innings.

Post Falls struck first, when Nate Buer led off the game with a triple and scored on a groundout by Chase Cripps.

Rocky answered with three runs in the bottom of the first on four straight hits, including two doubles.

Post Falls tied it at 3 in the third when Jake Pfennigs drew a bases-loaded walk.

Michael Callister’s home run in the fourth inning put Rocky Mountain (22-5) up 4-3.

It was all Post Falls after that.

In the fifth, Jacob Rutherford walked with one out and Tanner McCliment-Call doubled him to third. Zeller called for a squeeze bunt from his son, Brock. Rocky starter Gabe Hughes tried to pick Rutherford off third but threw the ball away. Rutherford scored, and McCliment-Call moved up to third. Mick Zeller kept the squeeze on, and Brock executed it to perfection to score McCliment-Call and put the Trojans up 5-4.

“It was a great bunt,” Mick Zeller said. “Perfect timing, and he was half a step away from a base hit.”

In the sixth, Chase Cripps hit a two-run double, and scored on a fielder’s choice.

Buer was 1 for 3 and scored three runs. Cripps, the No. 2 hitter, was 2 for 4 with three runs and two RBIs.

“Buer and Cripps were just on fire today,” Zeller said. “We talked after the game — everybody chipped in.”

The expected pitchers’ duel between Pfennigs, the Oregon State signee and likely MLB draft pick, and Hughes, the Gonzaga commit, never materialized.

Pfennigs struck out nine and walked one. He gave up eight hits, only three of them coming after the second inning.

Hughes gave up six hits and all eight runs, struck out seven and walked three, and left after six innings.

“He just settled down and started pitching to the game plan,” Zeller said of Pfennigs, who came back on four days’ rest for the second straight start (he also pitched Post Falls to a 1-0 win over Borah in the state play-in game), when normally he had had more rest between starts during high school ball. “I think a lot of it is, it’s later in the year, its mid-May, its warmer. The stakes are higher, his whole high school career, he never got to the play-in game. I think maybe that was a little extra motivation.”

Post Falls 102 023 0 — 8 8 0

Rocky Mtn. 300 100 0 — 4 8 4

Jake Pfennigs and Nate Buer; Gabe Hughes, Quinn McGuire (7) and Kaden Hollow. W — Pfennigs (4-2). L — Hughes.

HITS: PF — Buer, Cripps 2, McCliment-Call 2, Pfennigs, Bennett, Vasquez. RM — Hughes 2, Ogata, Hollow 2, Wright, Callister, Romano. 2B — McCliment-Call, Pfennigs, Hollow, Hughes 2. 3B — Buer, Cripps. HR — Callister.

Marsh Valley 3

Timberlake 0

ONTARIO, Ore. — Jack McDonald struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings for the Tigers, but Timberlake managed just four hits in falling to the Eagles in the opening round of the state 3A tournament at Treasure Valley Community College.

Caden May singled to score Jeff Wildling in the first inning for Marsh Valley (20-3), the District 5 champion.

“It was a pitchers’ duel and we just had a hard time finding our groove at the plate,” second-year Timberlake coach Cameron Knigge said. “When we’d get guys on the bases, they’d play good defense and get guys out. We’ll need to find our bats today if we want to keep playing. Jack’s a gamer and always wants the ball. We’ve just got to be able to the ball behind him.”

Timberlake (14-8) faces South Fremont (24-3) today at noon PDT in a loser-out game.

Marsh Valley faces the winner in a semifinal game tonight at 6.

Timberlake 000 000 0 — 0 4 2

Marsh Valley 100 011 x — 3 3 2

Jack McDonald, Logan McDonald (7) and Seth Villanpando; Jeff Wilding and Payton Campbell. W ­— Wilding. L — J. McDonald.

HITS: TL — Powell, Villanpando, L. McDonald, Mullin. MV ­— Campbell, May, Holbrook. 2B — Villanpando.

Bonners Ferry 5

Payette 1

ONTARIO, Ore. — Will Parr pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts and not walks as the Badgers, last year’s state runners-up, beat the Pirates in a state 3A first-round game at Treasure Valley Community College.

Bonners Ferry (16-5) will play Kimberly today at 3 p.m. PDT in a semifinal game.

Parr also drove in two runs, the first on a single in the second inning to open the scoring.

In the sixth, Parr hit a two-out double, and Brady Bateman followed with an RBI single. Seth Bateman singled, then the game was delayed an hour due to rain/lightning. When play resumed, Shayne Walker hit a two-strike, two-run double to make it 5-1.

“We had seven hits with two strikes,” Bonners Ferry coach Tom Turpin said. “We just kept swinging. We were just battling every pitch. The two-strike base hits were huge for us.”

Bonners Ferry 010 103 0 — 5 12 2

Payette 000 010 0 — 1 2 1

Will Parr and Brady Bateman; Walker, Rynearson (6) and Stricker. W — Parr (6-2). L — Walker.

HITS: BF — Brady Bateman, Seth Bateman 3, Shane Walker, Sabin, Fess 2, Eby, Ty Bateman, Parr 2. Pay — Rynearson, Marshall. 2B — S. Bateman, T. Bateman, Walker, Parr.