For the week of July 4 - July 10, 2001

Marsh Falls bragging rights, again, to Wood River Legion

Hailey nine repeats as tournament king at American Falls

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Pitching depth and an outstanding effort by its younger players proved to be a winning combination for the Wood River American Legion baseball team (15-4) last weekend in hot American Falls.

Wood River, playing its 11th game in 11 days Sunday, walked off with the championship of the Jim Tiede Farms Marsh Falls Invitational tourney for the second straight year. Wood River went 4-1 over three days of hot baseball.

Although Sunday’s championship game between Wood River and Roy (Utah) at Magnuson Field had a bizarre ending, it didn’t diminish the achievement of coach Brian Nelson and Mike Chatterton’s Hailey nine at American Falls.

Wood River (9-4 on the road), hitting .378 through 19 games and averaging 9.2 runs per game, outscored its five Tiede tourney opponents 33-21 and out-hit them 59-33.

The championship game was tied 5-5 in the eighth inning when a Roy batter doubled with two outs against Wood River righty Ryne Reynoso. At that point, the Wood River coaches alerted the umpires to the fact that Roy’s pitcher had far exceeded the tournament limit of innings pitched.

After some discussion, Wood River’s protest was upheld and the game was forfeited to the Hailey visitors.

"We out-hit Roy 11-4 and probably should have won the game earlier," said coach Chatterton.

He added that the Roy players and coaches didn’t dispute the decision, since they were well aware their pitcher had logged 17 innings in the tourney, far above the allowed 12.

"Roy only brought two pitchers. It’s just too bad they put us in that position," Chatterton said.

Wood River scored three runs in the first on a double by Max Paisley (2 hits), a run-scoring single by Jake Upham (2 hits, 2 RBI), a single by Paul Tinker (2 hits), an RBI double by Reynoso and RBI single by Kellen Chatterton, catcher of all five games.

Roy tied it 4-4 in the third. In the sixth, Tyler Corrock (2 hits) led off with a single, Max Paisley laid down a sacrifice bunt and Corrock scored on Tinker’s RBI single. Roy scored another run in the home sixth and the game went into extra innings.

But Reynoso (8 innings, 4 hits, 6 Ks, 7 BB) kept Roy’s powerful line-up in check. Roy had belted over 10 homers in its first four Tiede games, all wins, including seven Saturday.

Using six different pitchers in its first four games, Wood River beat Kimberly 8-3, North Ridge (Utah) 11-7 and Twin Falls 8-4, before losing to Boise 2-1 Saturday.

"We knew before the Boise game that we had already made it into the championship, so we went with our younger players. Boise played real well and so did we. It was a good game," said Chatterton.

Among the hitting stars of the three-day tournament were second-year infielder Tyler Corrock and rookie Matt Conover. They also excelled in the field, shortstop Corrock and second sacker Conover turning five double plays Saturday.

On Friday, Wood River (14 hits) opened with an 8-3 victory over Kimberly behind the nine-hit pitching of lefty Riley Nash (1-0) followed by two innings of scoreless relief work by Kellen Chatterton.

Nash chipped in with a two-run single in Wood River’s three-run second while Nic Nottingham (2 hits) and Corrock (2 hits, 2 RBI) had run-scoring singles in a two-run third for a 6-2 Hailey lead. Conover finished with three hits and Chatterton two.

Righty Max Paisley (1-0) had a nine-walk adventure on the hill Friday afternoon against North Ridge. Fortunately his teammates staked him to a 9-1 lead. Cory Goicoechea earned a save with an inning-and-a-third of relief for Wood River.

Nottingham (3 RBI) cracked a pair of homers sparking the 19-hit attack. Corrock went 4-for-4 with 3 RBI, Tinker 4-for-5 with 2 RBI, Conover 3-for-5 with 3 RBI. Chatterton and Upham added two hits each.

Second-year righty Jeff Bolton (2-1) tossed a seven-hitter at Twin Falls Saturday. Bolton (3 hits, 3 RBI) also crushed a two-run homer in the third, putting Wood River ahead 3-2 en route to the 8-4 triumph.

Reynoso, who batted .588 for the Eastern Idaho Junior Olympic team playing in Arizona last week, ripped an RBI triple in the fifth, breaking a 3-3 tie. Wood River busted it open with a four-run sixth that started with a Chatterton walk, Nottingham (2 hits) double and Corrock (2 hits) RBI single.

In the close 2-1 loss to Boise, rookie Joe Paisley (1-1) throttled Boise on one hit until the seventh. He ended with a three-hitter, walking eight. Upham (2 hits) drove home the only Wood River run in the fifth.

 

LEGION NOTES

Wood River, in its tough 11-game in 11 days assignment, went 9-2 and outscored foes 88-35. Since its season-opening doubleheader loss at Buhl (16-2, 8-0 league), Wood River is 13-2, its only losses 4-1 to Brigham City (Utah) and 2-1 Saturday to Boise at American Falls.

Remarkably, first-year Wood River players (incoming juniors) like Chatterton (.421 with 17 RBI), Conover (.450 with 16 RBI) and leading hitter Tinker (.481 with only 1 strikeout) are providing a spark for Hailey.

Second-year Corrock (.419) and Nottingham (.423) are pulling their weight. Third-year vets Max Paisley (.452 with 17 runs scored), Upham (.426 with 18 runs, 13 RBI) and Goicoechea (.463, 18 RBI) are leading the way for Wood River.

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