YANKEES GO ALL THE WAY!
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| The Bonners Ferry Yankees finished the first season undefeated in league to win the District 1 Intermediate 50-70 league championship. They are; front row (l-r) Raul Rodriguez, Anthony Bennett, Seth Bateman, Kendall Stone. Back row Coach Ted Flint, Brady Bateman, Kobe Norwood, Trey Flint, Tyrone Larson, Jesse Dunham, Pacen Pluid. Coach Cal Bateman is in the far back row. The team will play for a state title in Boise later this month. |
On Wednesday, the Yankees took down the Hayden All Stars in a nine-inning nail biter, 10-9, despite a depleted pitching staff and their top two pitchers ineligible to throw, having pitched the previous game.
They turned to Anthony Bennett, who made 100 pitches over seven innings. With the game tied in the eighth, Kobe Norwood, who hadn't made a pitch all year, stepped in and threw two great innings.
The Yankees were down by one run after the second inning. Norwood started the third by reaching first on a throwing error by the All Stars third baseman. Kendall Stone laid down a good sacrifice bunt, moving Norwood to second, and a wild pitch moved Norwood to third. He scored on a ground ball to first laid down by Seth Bateman to put the Yankees on the scoreboard.
The Yankees were up 2-1 going into the fifth inning. After retiring the first two batters, Hayden scored four runs with two outs on several Yankee errors, putting them up 6-1.
In the bottom of the inning, the Yankees roared back, with Norwood ripping a double down the third base line, and Pacen Pluid followed with a line drive single, then promptly stole second to put two runners in position to score.
Seth Bateman lined a single to the right to bring Norwood home, then his brother, Brady Bateman, smashed a double to right center, scoring Seth. Trey Flint swapped spots with Brady by nailing a double of his own, a shot ripped to right center, scoring Brady. Flint reached third on a ground-out by Jesse Dunham, then crossed home on an infield single to shortstop by Raul Rodriguez.
The score going into the seventh was tied at eight, and once again the Yankees retired Hayden's first two batters, only to watch the All Stars score two runs on a walk and two doubles.
With the game on the line, the Yankees went to work, though not without mishap.
Seth Bateman started off with a hard single up the middle, and he was stealing second when Brady Bateman smashed a shot up the middle, hitting Seth. Seth was called out and Brady was forced to stay at first.
With one out and one on, Flint hit a single, moving Brady to third. Flint stole second, and Dunham drove a single to right to bring Brady home and move Flint to third. Rodriguez stepped up to the plate and lobbed a fly ball deep to center field to easily bring Flint home, tie the game and force extra innings.
The score was still tied, 8-8, going into the ninth inning. With two outs and runners on first and third, Hayden's first base runner got caught in a pickle between first and second, allowing the third base runner to score and move the All Stars into the lead, though ending the drive with their third out.
Seth Bateman had two strikes when he took a fastball to the shoulder, putting him on first. Brady Bateman followed with a single, ripping the ball down the right field line, moving Seth to third, and Flint followed with another single, scoring Seth and moving Brady to third.
With the game tied up again, 9-9, the Hayden infield moved in close to cut the winning run, but Flint promptly stole second.
Dunham flied out to right field, but not deep enough to bring in Brady.
With one out and first base open, the All Stars decided to intentionally walk Rodriguez, but Raul wasn't playing their game.
What happened next couldn't have been more perfect had it been scripted for a movie.
On the second pitch, Rodriguez reached out and lifted a fly ball to shallow left. Timing it perfectly and tagging the ball all the way, Brady dove headfirst to the plate, crossing a split second before the throw reached home, sending the crowd ... and the Yankees ... into hysterics.
The Yankees will face the North Boise All Stars in a best of three tournament for the state title, and a win there will send the Yankees to Irvine, California, July 19 for the Western Regional Tournament.
Between now and then, the Yankees will be working hard to fund the trip, and all donations are greatly appreciated.
The team will be serving up a pancake breakfast at Mario's Restaurant, 6536 Main Street, Bonners Ferry from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 6.
To find out how you can help, call coach Bateman at (208) 627-3405.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
| Seth Bateman | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brady Bateman | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Trey Flint | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Jesse Dunham | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Raul Rodriguez | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Tyrone Larson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kobe Norwood | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kendall Stone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Anthony Bennett | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Pacen Pluid | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 36 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 9 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HBP |
| Anthony Bennett | 7 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Kobe Norwood | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 9 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 |