Baseball
BADGERS END REGULAR SEASON IN STYLE
ROBERTS THROWS GEM IN 14–0 WIN
Bonners Ferry junnior Zack Roberts threw a three-hit shutout, striking out 13 of the 15 possible outs in a 14–0 rout of Priest River.
The win ended the regular season for the Badgers, who went 14-8 overall and 9-6 in the Intermountain League. They will play in the District 1 3A District tournament game in Orofino Friday, May 8.
Earlier in the day, the Badgers lost to the Spartans 8–6.
Roberts started the game striking out the first eight batters until Kyle Carey hit a double in the third inning. After that, Roberts continued to strike out the Spartans only giving up two more hits and giving up a flyball to center and walk.
The Badgers started the game off with a run in the first inning when Roberts reached on an error and later scored an RBI single from Robby Burns. The Badgers added two more runs in the second with hits from Zach Maas, Alek Lopez, and Roberts’ two-run single. In the third, Bonners Ferry added two more on Lopez’s second hit and Colton Telford’s sacrifice fly.
The Badgers put the game away when they scored three runs in fourth inning and six runs in the fifth inning, culminating with senior Greg Taggart’s first homerun of his career. It was his last official high school at-bat for his regular season.
“It was awesome to see him hit that at his very last at bat of the regular season; he really deserved at least one in his career,” Coach Tom Turpin said.
Roberts finished the day going 6-for-9 at the plate including a double, triple, homerun and seven RBI’s. Burns got three hits with Casey Nelson and Lopez getting two hits each.
Bonners Ferry is second seed for the playoffs.
The Badger’s celebrated senior day with a 10-0 thumping of the Timberlake Tigers to strengthen their hold on second place.
The win improves the Badgers overall record to 12-5 and 7-3 in the league.
Senior Greg Taggart threw a gem pitching six strong innings giving up only two hits, striking out ten and not walking a batter. Taggart threw a total of 69 pitches.
The Badgers struck for five runs in the bottom of the first inning when senior Aaron Hoisington reached on an error and C.J. Erickson was hit by a pitch. Zack Roberts then hit a two-run single to score Hoisington and Erickson. Senior Robby Burns then laced an RBI double to left center to score Roberts. Casey Nelson hit a single to center and then Taggart scored Nelson with a sacrafice fly.
Intermountain League: It was an eventful doubleheader for Bonner Ferry’s Zach Roberts. He had a three-run home run in the opener, but host Priest River (6-9, 6-11), behind Brandon Endicott’s two-run homer in the third inning and Kyle Bradbury’s 12-strikeout performance won 8-6. So in the nightcap, Roberts took the mound and threw a three-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and one walk as the Badgers (9-6, 14-8) won 14-0. He also had two hits and three RBIs while Greg Taggart added a three-run home run. Bonners Ferry earned the second seed in next week’s playoffs. … Salvadore Miranda broke open a 2-2 tie with a fifth-inning grand slam, added a two-run home run an inning later as visiting Timberlake swept St. Maries, 9-2 and 16-14. The Lumberjacks (4-10, 6-14) led 9-1 in the nightcap, but the Tigers (7-8, 9-13) rallied to tie it at 14, then scored two unearned runs in the seventh for the win. Timberlake, the third seed, will host sixth-seeded St. Maries on Thursday.