The Dragon Baseball team strung together three nights of tough games at home and on the road as they played over the last week.  Taking on the Preston Indians, the Declo Hornets and the Clearview Falcons on back to back to back nights proved to be a challenge for Malad, a challenge they were happy to face.  “We could play teams we could always beat, but we want to be challenged because that’s when we get better,” said Head Coach Jeff Snow.

From game to game and opponent and opponent, the Dragons are focused on accomplishing three things- hard line drive hits, great defense, and aggressive base running.  Throughout the week and its challenges, Coach Snow and his team have seen progress on these goals, progress not despite their tough opponents but because of them.

Beginning the week’s game on Tuesday, April 1, the Dragons traveled to Preston.  It wasn’t until the fourth inning that the MHS team was finally able to put runs on the scoreboard and unfortunately, they still trailed behind 4-5 as they moved to the bottom of the inning.  The Indians responded with two more runs to take the lead again.  They continued to expand their lead, eventually winning 5-10.

Evaluating the game, Coach Snow shared, “We struggled behind the plate.  We just couldn’t hit.  And then our defense had too many errors.  Without good hitting and good defense, we just can’t win.  Coming off spring break is hard when we aren’t getting the reps in that we need.”

With another game the very next day, the Dragons were ready to refocus both their hitting and defense.  This time playing on their home field, Malad hosted Declo in their first conference game of the season.

Starting the game on the field, Malad forced three outs on three at bats, thanks to pitcher Brycen Howe.  Despite connecting with the ball as they went to bat, Declo managed to stop the Dragon offense with three quick outs.  Back to the field, Howe led out on defense to throw three more strikeouts on four batters.

Carter Carey, first to bat for Malad, started things off strong with a line drive double to right field.  Ky Willie followed with a sacrifice bunt, getting out at first as Carey advanced to third base.  Hitting a single fly ball to center field, Brady Showell punched in Carey to get the Dragons on the scoreboard first.  Caught stealing third and a pop fly to right field, the second inning closed 1-0.

Over the next innings of the game, Malad worked away at both ends of the game to stay on top- defensively keeping Declo from making progress around the bases while they strategically worked their base runners around to home.  

Keeping the Hornets scoreless through the top of the seventh, the Dragons claimed the win 3-0, thanks in large part to their errorless defense led by Howe.  Snow commented, “Brycen pitched a great game striking out 15 batters.  And then he was backed up by great defense to get those last outs.  We are still working on our hitting.  When we can have great hitting coupled with our great defense, we are going to be a hard team to beat.”

Playing their third game in as many days, the Dragons traveled to Clearfield, Utah Thursday, April 3.  Knowing the caliber of team they were going up against, they knew they would have to play at the top of their game.  Unfortunately, at the end of the seventh inning, the Dragons trailed 0-7.  “Yeah, a bigger school with a good team... but the score did not reflect the actual game and how well we played,” shared Coach Snow.

He continued, “Until the end of the sixth, it was a 0-2 off one bad pitch that turned into a two run homer.  Our defense was really good again, we just need to get the bats going is all.”

Allowing two points in the bottom of the first inning, the Dragons held the Falcons scoreless over the following four innings.  Showell, taking the mound for Malad’s first five innings, forced seven strikeouts at the plate as a part of the solid MHS defense.  The infield managed a double play to close out the third inning, forcing the out at first and then the out at second base when the runner failed to tag up before advancing.

Second baseman Cale Briggs got the assist on two outs in the fourth inning, hitting up shortstop Carter Blaisdell and first baseman Howe to finish the play with the outs.  Into the fifth inning, Ky Willie got under the pop fly in center field to force the first out.  The infield followed with another double play, tagging second base and passing off the ball to first to beat the runner.

The MHS defense struggled to keep their play tight in the sixth inning, allowing Clearfield five runs before they were able to shut them down.

Coach Snow shared some concluding thoughts, “Brady pitched awesome and kept it close so we had some changes.  Our hitting needs to pick up for sure and I hope tomorrow night at Marsh Valley we start.”  

The Dragons have a full schedule ahead of them, beginning with an away game at Marsh Valley on Tuesday, April 8 followed by a matchup against Firth at home.  The MHS baseball team will end the week with four games as they compete in the Glenns Ferry tournament.  With Sunday off, they will come back Monday, April 14 back at Firth for their second game of the season.