Baseball

The 4A High Country Conference announced its all-conference teams Thursday, naming Gatorade Idaho Player of the Year Dax Whitney from Blackfoot as the district’s player of the year.

A Blackfoot baseball player has won the Gatorade Idaho Baseball Player of the Year award for the first time ever, and not surprisingly, it’s Dax Whitney.

Among the waves of banners hanging in the Sugar-Salem High School Gym, none of them were baseball banners, until this week. The Sugar-Salem Baseball team raised its first state title banner Wednesday.

The high school sports season finished with a weekend full of spring state tournaments, and five local teams can call themselves state champions.

Spring sports have come to an end in Idaho, and for two of our local teams on Saturday, it was the perfect day.

Exhilaration quickly turned into heartbreak for the Challis-Mackay Rivercats Friday night, when a five-run seventh inning comeback was erased by a Grangeville walkoff in the 2A baseball semifinals.

One local team is heading to the 2A baseball semifinals, while two others suffer close defeats. Challis-Mackay is moving on, but Malad and Firth are now in the consolation bracket.

In the 3A state play-in game on Saturday at Halliwell Park, the South Fremont baseball team came out on top against Buhl 5-2.

In the 2A Nuclear Conference district championship on Saturday, the Challis-Mackay Rivercats took home the district title with a 9-6 victory over Firth.

The Blackfoot Broncos are district champions thanks to a two-game sweep of the Bonneville Bees in the 4A High Country Championship Thursday.

The Pocatello Thunder are used to winning close games at this time of the year, and they did it again Wednesday, defeating Century 3-2 to win the 4A South East Idaho Conference and return to the state tournament.

If the dominance of the Highland Rams wasn’t evident before, it was definitely evident Tuesday when Highland blew out Madison 20-3 in the 5A High Country title game.

Round one in the 2A Nuclear Conference Tournament between Firth and Challis-Mackay goes to the Rivercats 4-1 Tuesday, with Challis-Mackay improving to 17-2-1 on the season.

In a marathon three hour, 46 minute Game 3 battle, the Bonneville Bees sting the most against the Skyline Grizz, scoring 25 of the combined 42 runs in the contest to punch their ticket to the 4A state tournament.

With a chance to qualify for the 4A state tournament, the Skyline Grizzlies and the Bonneville Bees were both able to stay alive, splitting their doubleheader on Saturday.

An action-packed day in the 5A High Country Conference Tournament culminates with one team in the district championships, one team eliminated, and two rivals squaring off with their seasons on the line.

On a very windy Monday, Teton and South Fremont split their first two matchup in a best-of-three first round series in the 3A Mountain Rivers Conference Tournament, forcing a do-or-die Game 3 Tuesday.

The Highland Rams continue to be dominant in the 5A High Country Conference, sweeping the Thunder Ridge Titans in a doubleheader on Saturday.

After 17 games on the road, the Highland Rams opened up their season at Westmark Field in a major way with a two game sweep of the Madison Bobcats.

The Snake River Panthers spilt their doubleheader at home against Filer on Saturday afternoon.

Both the Blackfoot Broncos and Skyline Grizz scored shutout victories Friday at Melaleuca Field, splitting a doubleheader to keep the top two spots in the 4A High Country Conference.

Both the Bonneville Bees and Idaho Falls picked up a victory and a defeat Friday in a doubleheader split.

The Hillcrest Knights were victorious twice on Thursday against the Shelley Russets, sweeping a twin billing with 7-4 and 10-6 wins.

Once Highland took the lead Monday on the diamond, they never looked back, as the Rams stormed by the Madison Bobcats 13-0.

Early offense turned into late defense Monday in Rigby, with the Trojans keeping their lead in the final three frames for a 6-4 victory over the Thunder Ridge Titans.