They've been nearly bulletproof at home, but much less effective in their hitting away from Hailey's Founders Field.
With the Area C "A" summer baseball season winding down, Wood River American Legion ballplayers will quickly have to find a way to deal with that contradiction if they hope to make headway in next week's district tournament.
Take, for instance, this week's four-game road trip to eastern Idaho, where Wood River has a 2-11 record to date.
Wood River (18-16, 13-16 league) got a pair of solid pitching efforts from seniors Greg Wakefield (2-4) and Michale Brunker (3-3) Tuesday against top-seeded Bonneville of Idaho Falls but managed only four hits over 14 innings. Bonneville swept Wood River 7-2 and 4-0.
Wednesday, righty Zach Israel (3.2 innings, 53 pitches, 7 hits, 0 earned runs) put visiting Wood River in position to win over the Hillcrest Royals. But Wood River's bats went silent in the final three frames and Hillcrest prevailed 6-4 behind a complete-game, 116-pitch six-hitter by Tyler Harris.
Juan Martinez (2 hits, 2 runs) and Keven Abbott (2 hits) led Wood River. In Wednesday's nightcap, Hillcrest launched a three-run homer in the home sixth to prevail 3-2 and spoil an outstanding pitching job by Jimmy Hague. Bryan Bray had an RBI double.
Coach Matt Nelson said, "Jimmy pitched a great game, real consistent in the zone. Our timing (at the plate) is off a little and we're not getting key hits right now. We've got some work to do but I think we'll do well in the tournament."
On Saturday, July 18, Wood River finishes its regular-season slate with an 11 a.m. doubleheader against Marsh Falls at Founders. At home Wood River is outscoring visitors 143-72 and has piled up a 10-4 home record. So Nelson hopes Wood River can keep up the good work and finish well.
The coach said it's likely Wood River will need to host a district tournament play-in game Monday, July 20 against either the Jerome Cyclones or Idaho Falls Rangers. Game time would be either 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. at Founders. The winner of that game would be seeded into the district meet July 22.
Wood River’s Bryan Bray watches one of his two hits during Monday’s 16-6 home win over the Skyline Red Sox at Founders Field. Bray had an RBI double in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss at the Hillcrest Royals. Photo by David N. Seelig
