by Tom Turpin

BFHS Head Baseball Coach

The Bonners Ferry Badgers continued to improve on their overall record this past Friday and Saturday as they beat the higher division 4A Sandpoint Bulldogs 2 out of 3 games in baseball.  The wins improve the Badgers record to 5-2 in the early season.

GAME 1 - Bonners Ferry    3,   Sandpoint   1

Senior Vince Bennett gave up one hit and no runs through 6 innings and finished with a three hitter as the Badgers won 3 – 1 in Bonners Ferry.  The win puts Bennett’s record at 2-0 for the season.

The Badgers scored an early run in the bottom of the 2^nd inning when Seth Bateman reached on an error and later scored on an error from the Bulldog second baseman.  The Badgers added two more runs in the bottom of the 5^th inning after Bennett and Jesse Dunham reached based on a walk and hit batter.  Both scored on a wild pitch and another error from the second baseman.

In the Bulldog top of the 7^th, Paul Sundquist hit a one-out single and Talan Dewey followed with another single.  Sundquist scored on an error from the shortstop to narrow the lead to 3 – 1.  With runners on first and third with two outs, Wes Holland was caught stealing by Badger catcher Brady Bateman, who threw the Sanpoint runner out to end the game.

“We figured they would try to steal to get the tying run in scoring position.  Brady made a perfect throw to get him out,” Coach Turpin said.  Bateman has nailed 5 of 6 runners attempting to steal so far this year.

Bonners Ferry hits – Bennett, Dunham, Blackmore, C. Sabin (2B), N. Sabin

GAME 2 - Bonners Ferry    11,   Sandpoint   0 (Mercy Rule:  5 innings)

Pitcher Jesse Dunham pitched 4 perfect innings before giving up a two-out single as he finished with a three hit, five strikeout, and no walk gem of a game as the Badgers thumped the Bulldogs 11 – 0 in 5 innings.  Dunham picked off two runners at first and only allowed 17 batters (two more than the minimum) as he improved his record to 2 – 0 in the season.

The Badgers struck for six runs in the first inning on five hits lead by Caleb Gering’s two-run single as the Badgers sent 10 men to the plate in the inning.  The Badger bats cooled a bit throughout the game until a five-run burst in the 5^th inning to blow the game open. 

Senior Caleb Blackmore led the team going 3 for 3 at the plate and Bennett, Gering and Nick Sabin each had two hits in the game.

“Jesse threw a fantastic game for us.  He kept them off balance and really had a dominating performance,” said Coach Turpin.

Bonners Ferry hits – Bennett 2, Gering 2 (2B), Blackmore 3, N. Sabin 2, C. Sabin, Gray,

GAME 3 - Bonners Ferry    5,   Sandpoint   8

The Bulldogs edged the Badgers 8 – 5 in the 3^rd game of the series behind Tyrone Larson’s four innings of work on the mound for the Bulldogs.

Sandpoint scored a run in the bottom half of the first inning when Jacob Cometto hit a double and later scored on a Badger error.  The Badgers scored two runs in the top of the third inning when Kaleb Stockton reached on an infield single and Brady Bateman walked.  Both scored on wild pitches from Larson.  The Bulldogs responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the 3^rd with two outs in the inning.  Jacobson lead off the inning with a single to start the inning.  With two outs, Sundquist hit a RBI single to Jacobson and Sundquist later scored on a RBI double from Trey Flint.

Bonners Ferry added 2 more runs in the top of the 5^th inning when Brady Bateman lead off with a single.  Dunham was hit by a pitch to put runners first and second.  Gering reached on an error which scored Bateman, and Blackmore hit a RBI single to score Dunham.  Sandpoint added a run in the bottom of the 5^th inning to tie the game 4 – 4 when Sundquist hit a one-out triple to right center.  He later scored on a Badger error from the third baseman.

Sandpoint erupted for four runs in the bottom of the 6^th inning on 4 hits to take an 8 – 4 lead in the game.  The Badgers added a single run in the 7^th inning to end the game 8 – 5 Bulldogs.

“Overall, we played pretty good baseball over the past couple days.  The boys feel good about where we are and are looking forward to defending the league title this year,” Coach Turpin said.

Bonners Ferry hits – B. Bateman, Dunham, Blackmore, N. Sabin, C. Sabin, Stockton

The Badgers next game is Tuesday, April 5^th at Lake City.