Given a choice, the Wood River High School softball team probably wouldn't have picked the Mountain Home Tigers for its first-round opponent in the State 4A prep softball tournament starting Thursday, May 15 at Twin Falls High School.
Mountain Home, after all, was last year's State 4A runner-up to perennial 4A power Bishop Kelly of Boise—and the Tigers tied a 4A state tournament record by winning three state tournament games by shutouts while also falling 8-2 and 5-3 to BK last May up in Coeur d'Alene.
This year, riding the goose egg pitching of sophomore Nickayla Skinner, Mountain Home has more motivation to win its first-ever State 4A tournament title when the eight-team meet convenes Thursday afternoon with games at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Last week the Boise-based Idaho Statesman newspaper quoted first-year Mountain Home coach Chris Asbury as saying the Tigers have dedicated their season to the memory of former head coach Joy Memmelaar, who died of cancer Nov. 7.
Favored to win the double elimination state tournament, Third District winner Mountain Home (21-2) opens its quest against Great Basin Conference West champion Wood River (13-14) Thursday at 3 p.m.
Mountain Home dethroned eight-time state softball champ Bishop Kelly 8-2 in the 4A Third District tourney last week before beating Kuna 2-1 in an extra-inning title game Thursday, behind the pitching of Skinner (14 K, 0 BB, 5 hits).
But, here's something to keep in mind before everybody lines up for Mountain Home's coronation. The fact is Mountain Home and Pocatello (22-1) are definitely the favored teams, on opposite sides of the bracket—and Wood River has played both the Tigers and Indians tough.
In Wood River's first game of the season, on March 8, Wolverine junior pitcher Samantha Engel and Skinner locked up in a fine pitcher's duel on the Tiger diamond. Engel blanked Mountain Home for six innings and carried a 2-0 lead into the seventh—before the Tigers scored three runs to win 3-2, Skinner stroking a two-run game-winning single.
And Wood River came up with an excellent effort in last Thursday's Great Basin Conference state-seeding championship game against Pocatello, in Pocatello. The Indians ended up winning 7-4, but Wood River led 2-0 after three frames and the game was tied 4-4 in the sixth stanza.
"It was a good softball game," said Wood River coach Dale Martin, whose Hailey program is making its second State 4A visit in three years.
He added, "Pocatello is one of the top teams in the state for a reason. We had one bad inning. You can't give up unearned runs and win against this type of competition. But if we play smart and cut down on strikeouts we can go a long way at state. I wouldn't want to play us."
Engel (4-4) was the winning pitcher in Wood River's thrilling 6-5 extra-inning victory over defending champion Burley May 5 in the deciding game of the Great Basin Conference West tournament at Jerome. It was Wood River's second Great Basin West title in three years.
And junior Engel (4 innings, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 7 K, 1 BB) threw well at Pocatello, leaving with the game tied 2-2. Senior Hannah Gove (9-10) got roughed up a little by Pocatello. Indian pitcher Jordahn Denny (3 hits, 12 K, 1 BB) held the Wolverines down for most of the game and yielded two earned runs.
"Both Engel and Denny pitched well," said Martin.
Accounting for Wood River's hits were senior Tasha Karst (2 RBI), Angela Coleman and Lacie Anderson.
The outcome meant that Wood River drew Mountain Home, and Pocatello got to play Third District third-place Emmett (20-7) in the first round at state. Sixth District champ Blackfoot goes against Kuna (17-7).
Burley (12-18) earned the final berth to 4A state by winning Saturday's state play-in game in Pocatello by a 6-0 score over Hillcrest of Idaho Falls. Burley pitcher Molly Mills, a junior, pitched a three-hit shutout and cracked three home runs.
Lakeland of Rathdrum (14-12) plays Burley Thursday at 5 p.m., the winner going against the Mountain Home-Wood River winner Friday, and the losers also matching up.
Mountain Home, Pocatello, Blackfoot and Burley are the only teams returning to state from 2007. Blackfoot and Pocatello went two-and-out, while Burley won once.
