Wood River High School baseball coach Matt Nelson keeps telling Wolverine varsity players that they have the ability and talent to beat any team in the Great Basin Conference. But he always adds they have to do the little things to win.
Unfortunately for Wood River, it was Burley doing the little things necessary to win tight ball games last weekend.
Situational hitting, pitchers who stayed away from walks, fielders who caught the ball and runners who were aggressive—the Bobcats did everything better than Wood River.
The result was a Great Basin three-game sweep for Burley over Wood River, by scores of 10-4 Friday at Burley, and 13-6 and 6-4 Saturday at Hailey's Founders Field.
It lifted Burley (7-9, 3-1 league) into a tie with Twin Falls (13-2, 3-1) atop the Great Basin Conference.
Wood River (3-8, 2-4 league) saw its losing skid extended to four games. It's not like the Wolverines have been blown out. Three runs or fewer have settled eight of the 11 Hailey games, Hailey losing five of those. And close games are where little things matter most.
Nelson saw glimmers of hope in Saturday's pitching by two juniors, Collin Dean and Jake Freeman.
In Saturday's opener, righty starter Dean (103 pitches, 8 hits, 2 earned runs) threw into the sixth inning but fell victim to his own wildness (6 BB, 3 HBP) and some porous defense (9 Wolverine errors, 11 of the 13 Burley runs unearned).
Despite the effective pitching of Burley righthander Fonzie Sanchez (78 pitches, 5 innings, 4 hits, 2 BB, 4 K), Wood River trailed only 5-3 when, with two outs in the sixth, Burley plated five runs helped by three walks and two errors.
Leading Wood River were Jimmy Hague (2 hits, 3 RBI), Juan Martinez (2 hits, triple, 2 RBI), Zach Israel (triple, 2 runs) and Alex Padilla (triple, 2 sacrifice bunts). Sanchez went 4-for-4 for Burley and Nelson Geary had a two-run single in the decisive sixth inning outburst for the 'Cats.
Afterwards, Nelson challenged his discouraged team to play better in the nightcap—and the Wolverines did just that behind the five-inning, 63-pitch effort of starter Freeman (2 hits, 1 earned run).
Only after Nelson went to the bullpen to relieve Freeman, who has had shoulder problems, did Burley finally strike for four runs in the sixth and win the contest 6-4. Taylor Carson's two-out, two-run single pushed across the winning runs.
Wood River (out-hitting Burley 8-5) scored three of its four runs in the first frame—on a Martinez double, an Israel (2 hits) double, a Hague double, a Tyler Peters sacrifice fly and a Keven Abbott double. Padilla (2 hits, double) continued to hit well.
But the Wolverine pitchers continued to issue free passes—six walks and a hit batsman in the nightcap, which brought the two-day, three-game total against Burley to 23 walks and six hit batsmen. And it's tough to win any ball game like that.
Friday, Sanchez (3-for-4, triple, 3 RBI) was on fire at the plate as Burley (7 hits) capitalized on 13 free passes to beat Wood River 10-4. Abbott (2 hits) and Zak Sjoberg (double) helped the Hailey attack.
Next up for the Wolverines is Minico, the four-time defending Great Basin champion and reigning State 4A king. Minico (13-5, 4-2 league) salvaged the final game of a three-game series with Twin Falls Saturday, winning 12-8. Twin won the first two meetings 10-0 and 6-4.
Wood River entertains Minico Friday, April 16 at 4:30 p.m. at Founders, and goes to Rupert for a Saturday league doubleheader.
Wood River outfielder Alex Padilla is surrounded by his teammates at home plate Saturday after turning a triple into a Founders Field inside-the-park homer—with a little help from a bobble in the Bobcat outfield. Burley won 13-6. Photo by David N. Seelig
