It wasn't the prettiest win, but high school softball coach Dale Martin said he'd take it.
Wood River beat Minico 6-2 in Great Basin Conference West softball action at Rupert Wednesday afternoon. It was the first Wolverine softball game in three weeks. And Martin said the layoff showed.
"We did not play well. We weren't real focused, but we did what we had to do to win and I'll take it," said Martin about the Wolverines (4-4, 1-1 league) who snapped a four-game skid.
Sophomore pitcher Samantha Engel had a 90-pitch complete game effort. She struck out six, walked three and allowed three hits, but surrendered no earned runs.
"Sam probably pitched one of her better games. She made them hit the ball," Martin said.
Martin added the Engel's effort was aided by stalwart play by Dani Stone at shortstop. "She made four or five really good plays," he said.
Hannah Gove had two hits (double), a run and one RBI. Tasha Karst, Stone and Engel tagged one hit each. The Wolverines (5 hits) capitalized on seven Spartans errors.
Minico cracked the scoreboard first, scoring twice in the home third. The Wolverines took the lead with four runs in the fourth and tacked on two more in the top of the seventh.
The Wolverines swing through eastern Idaho for doubleheaders against Preston on Friday and Century Saturday, then host Buhl Tuesday.
"Now is the time of year I like," Martin said. "We get to play a lot of games."
Boys fall 7-1 to Burley
"The mental errors killed us," Wood River High varsity baseball coach Matt Nelson said of his team's 7-1, error-filled loss at Burley Wednesday in another Great Basin Conference West contest.
The game started promising enough with Wolverines Drew Anderson, Michael Brunker and Eric Jacobson getting hits. Jacobson (2 hits) had a RBI single for a 1-run lead.
Starting pitcher Kenny Cardona (5 strikeouts) hummed along until the fifth when the Bobcats pushed four over the plate. Tyler Israel chipped in two hits.
"Our pitching was fine. Our defense was not," Nelson said.
The teams played again in Hailey yesterday. Wood River (1-6, 0-1 league) is away to Skyview in Nampa Saturday and home to Minico Monday at Hailey's Founders Field.
