2007 Badger baseball season

The 2007 Badger Baseball season started last weekend with four games at the Orofino tournament. The Badgers came away with two impressive wins blanking 3A McCall Donnelly 10-0 in the opening game and in the final game beating host 2A Orofino 15-0 in 6 innings. Overall the team played extremely well considering they had not been outside to practice until the first game on Friday.

Bonners Ferry - 10

McCall - 0

The Badgers came out swinging in the first innings scoring two runs on three hits.

AJ Bennett started the inning with a single to right field followed by Kenny Swift's single to left. Chris Nelson roped a two run single down the left field line scoring both Bennett and Swift. Bonners Ferry added another run in the second when Jake Watt hit a single and scored when McCall loaded the bases hitting three batters in a row. In the fourth inning, Casey Nelson hit a two run single scoring Swift and Matt Pluid who reached when they hit by pitches. The Badgers ended the game in the fifth inning when Chris James and freshman Zach Maas each hit RBI singles. The winning pitcher for the Badgers was senior Josh Gatchell who pitch a one hitter striking out six and walking four.

Bonners Ferry - 0 Potlatch - 5

The Badgers lost a heart break of a game against 2A Potlatch 5-0. Bonners Ferry pitchers gave up only one hit in the game but walked 15 batters and hit 5 batters. AJ Bennett and Josh Gatchell were the only Badgers to get hits with Bennett hitting a double. Pitcher Greg Taggart took the loss for the Badgers.

Bonners Ferry - 9

Prairie - 13

Bonners Ferry started strong in the game having a 3-0 lead through four innings with Badger pitcher Jake Watt throwing a no hitter through 4 1/3 innings. The Badgers scored three runs in the third inning when Bonners Ferry had three straight hits from Josh Hawks, Chris James and Mitch Fortune. Josh Gatchell also had an RBI single in the third inning. In the fifth inning, the Badgers added another run when AJ Bennett started off the inning with a single. Chris James then hit a single to center and AJ Bennett scored when Mitch Fortune reached based on an error. Prairie scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when Badger Pitchers walked two batters and hit another. They scored on a fielding error by AJ Bennett. In the sixth inning, Prairie added another four runs on just two hits. In the seventh, Prairie added their final six runs on four hits. In the bottom of the seventh, the Badgers didn't go quietly when they scored five runs on four hits. The Badgers had a total of 14 hits in the game being lead by AJ Bennett and Matt Pluid each having three hits apiece. Chris James and Chris Nelson added two hits each.

Bonners Ferry - 15

Orofino - 0

The Badgers ended the tournament very strong when they blanked host Orofino 15-0 in 6 innings. Senior pitcher Ross Patterson held Orofino two just 5 hits allowing only two runners past second base. He struck out 6 batters and walked none. AJ Bennett lead Bonners Ferry with three hits including two doubles. Chris James, Matt Pluid and Ross Patterson each had two hits and Kenny Swift Josh Gatchell and Chris Nelson each had singles for the Badgers.

The Badgers ended up with 35 hits and 34 runs for the tournament.

The Badgers play again in Orofino this weekend followed by their league opener against St. Maries at home on Saturday, Mar. 24. The Badger baseball team encourages everyone to attend this doubleheader against St. Maries.