Lakeland stopped on one hit in semis
CALDWELL — Lakeland did almost everything it could to advance to the state 4A championship game on a rainy day at Vallivue High on Friday.
The one thing the Hawks couldn’t do was solve Bonneville pitcher Caden Christensen.
Christensen allowed one hit — a seventh-inning single with none out by Collin Bell — as the Bees of Idaho Falls defeated the Hawks 5-1 in a state 4A semifinal game.
“Christensen pitched one heck of a ballgame for Bonneville,” Lakeland coach Jason Bradbury said. “He kept us off balance all game long and had great composure on the mound.”
Ezra Grigg allowed two runs and six hits in five innings of relief for Lakeland (12-13-2), which faces Bishop Kelly (24-5) of Boise at Vallivue High in the third-place game today at noon PDT.
“I was proud of how Ezra came in and threw,” Bradbury said. “Ezra put a lot of zeros up for them on the scoreboard and kept us in the game. We just couldn’t do anything offensively to back him up. You’ve got to give credit to Bonneville though. They’re a good baseball team and just flat-out beat us today.”
Bonneville (23-6) faces Idaho Falls (21-5) in the championship game tonight.
Lakeland 000 000 1 — 1 1 1
Bonneville 300 002 x — 5 9 0
Cameron Harris, Ezra Grigg (1), Tristan Clift (6) and Colton Aragon; Christensen and Lords. W — Christensen. L — Harris.
HITS: LL — Bell. Bonn — Cortez, Hostert 2, Christensen 2, Perez, Nelson, Franson, Howell.
Timberlake 17
Homedale 4, 5 inn.
IDAHO FALLS — Jack McDonald, Kobe Harris and Alex Drake had three hits each as the Tigers scored 15 runs in the first two innings, romping past the Trojans in a state 3A loser-out game at Melaleuca Field.
“Everyone just hit today,” said Timberlake coach Cameron Knigge, who was fighting a head cold during Friday’s game. “They swung at the first pitch and they hit the ball hard. Our guys used the entire ballpark. It was a good spray chart kind of day. You couldn’t really tell where a guy was going to hit the ball, because there was no scouting chart. They were hitting all over the place.”
Timberlake (17-9-1) will face Weiser (13-13) in the consolation championship game today at 9 a.m. PDT.
Weiser beat Timberlake 16-7 on March 29, the first day of a tournament in Payette.
“We’ve got a little business to take care of tomorrow,” Knigge said.
Drake finished with four RBIs, McDonald and Louis Powell three RBIs each for Timberlake.
“We came out really relaxed today,” Knigge said. “We came out and it was a little bit of a punch in the mouth to score seven in the first (inning), then score eight more in the second.”
Harris struck out seven in the win for Timberlake.
“He pitched the best game of his career today,” Knigge said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the kid, and he had two RBIs as well. Homedale hit him a little bit, but he kept his composure.”
Homedale 000 22 — 4 9 1
Timberlake 782 0x — 17 19 2
Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule.
Clayton Wolfe, Mason Kincheloe (2), Brady Trout (2), Tommy Muir (3) and Drew Deal; Kobe Harris and Louis Powell. W — Harris. L — Wolfe.
HITS: Home — Deal 2, Brown 2, Wolfe, Kincheloe 2, Muir, Garcia. TL — McDonald 3, Harris 3, Powell 2, Knerr 2, James, Drake 3, Larsen, Hessing 2, Benefield 2. 2B — Kincheloe, Drake 2, Larsen, McDonald. 3B — Powell.