Tf baseball state

SPORTS

Sunday, May 21, 2017 | magicvalley.com | SECTION D

Filer, Buhl represent SCIC at state Wildcats take 3rd, Indians take 4th ALEX VALENTINE

More Online For a photo gallery from Filer v. Timberlake softball, visit magicvalley.com.

Avalentine@magicvalley.com‌

‌BUHL – Filer and Buhl came a long way over the weekend after a pair of losses on Friday.

The two Magic Valley teams faced off Saturday morning, and in typical Filer and Buhl fashion, a pitcher’s duel ensued, with Filer coming out on top 2-0.

Filer advanced to take on Timberlake, the team that sent them on the long, winding loser’s bracket just one day earlier, PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌ with a spot in the 3A state chamFiler catcher Fallon Stoddard tags out Timberlake senior Glori Cheevers at pionship game on the line. The home plate Saturday, May 20, 2017, during the 3A State Softball semi-finals at Wildcats handed the ball to a Buhl High School in Buhl. freshman, Aspen Ryan, to make

her first of the entire postseason.

She gave them a shot.

Filer eventually fell by a score of 8-6, but Ryan tossed four scoreless innings to start the game, and exited in the sixth inning with Filer trailing 6-4.

“That was one of the best games I’ve seen Aspen pitch. She shut Timberlake down (in relief) on Friday, and she was phenomenal again today. She kept them off-balance and the movement was good. She was ready to take the ball,” said Filer head coach Buck Taylor. “As soon as I went

to (ace pitcher) Roz (Triplett) and said I was going to give it to her, she just said, ‘okay.’ She’s a great senior leader.”

Junior third baseman Idanna Cobb put the Wildcats on the board in the fourth inning with a solo home run, then slugged another home run, this one of the two-run variety, in the following inning to put Filer ahead 3-0. Cobb received a Cortisone ejection in her wrist earlier in the week to alleviate wrist pain that had hampered her during the regular season.

“She’s been bothered by it all year. This is what she’s used to. This is Idanna, normally. I would put her up against any Please see SOFTBALL, Page D4

LOCAL ROUNDUP

Valley wins 1A track, Twin takes 2nd VICTOR FLORES AND ALEX VALENTINE

Vflores@magicvalley.com Avalentine@magicvalley.com‌

‌BOISE — Muamer Mujic has a new magic number: 0.06.

Mujic, a junior sprinter for the Twin Falls High School track team, won four gold medals on Saturday at the 4A state track meet. Two of his wins surpassed the silver medalists by 0.06 seconds.

Mujic and the Bruins had a strong final day at state, which was held at Dona Larsen Park.

Bishop Kelly took the boys and girls titles, while Twin finished second in both team races.

Mujic’s big day began with a 4x200 win, but he could only watch as the medal was determined. Twin’s anchor leg, Preston Meyerhoeffer, held off Bishop Kelly’s anchor by 0.06 seconds to deliver the gold to the Bruins.

Meyerhoeffer lost to the same Bishop Kelly runner in the same event earlier this spring. the two were neck-and-back for the final 100 meters on Saturday, but Meyerhoeffer didn’t let up.

“You can see him, you can hear his feet, you can see his shadow.

You’re fully aware of where they are,” Meyerhoeffer said. “Toward the end, I just started yelling to try and get every fiber out of my body.”

More than an hour later, Meyerhoeffer, Mujic, and their 4x200 teammate Tychicus Schneider competed in the 100 meter dash.

Mujic got off the blocks well, but Bishop Kelly junior Khalil Forehand — the defending 4A state champ in the 100 — was right there with him.

Mujic’s time was 10.79 — 0.06 seconds faster than Forehand’s.

“I came out here pretty scared because Khalil Forehand, he’s really good,” Mujic said. “I’ve been practicing a lot. I really wanted to be a state champ this year.”

Mujic was hardly done. He led Twin’s 4x100 boys team to a gold medal in a 4A record time of 42.33 seconds. Shortly after that, he won the 200 meter dash in a personal record 21.98 seconds.

The only other Magic Valley winner of the day was Minico’s Taylia Stimpson. The sophomore set a PR and nearly set the 4A record with her 200 meter time of 25.16 seconds.

Other than Twin, local teams scarcely cracked the top 10 on Saturday.

On the girls side, Wood River finished 10th, Minico finished 16th, and Burley, Canyon Ridge and Jerome rounded out the bottom three at 21st, 22nd and 23rd, respectively.

After finishing the first day tied for first, the Canyon Ridge boys finished the meet in fourth place.

Minico finished 15th, Wood River finished 20th and Burley and Jerome tied for last place.

Valley boys’ track and field team took home first place at the 1A state track meet over the weekend. The Vikings finished with 74 points, 12 ahead of second-place Clearwater Valley.

The Vikings won just two events: the 800 meter run (Adam Elorrieta) and the 1600 sprint medley, but had athletes sprinkled in the top six of events across the M 1

Please see ROUNDUP, Page D3

WILLY HARRIS FOR THE TIMES-NEWS‌

Twin Falls celebrates its 4A state championship win over Idaho Falls with a dog pile Saturday at Bishop Kelly High School.

From valley to peak Twin Falls wins emotional state championship VICTOR FLORES

Vflores@magicvalley.com‌

‌BOISE — Two years of disappointing finishes and a devastating summer laid the foundation for a dog pile on Saturday.

The Twin Falls High School baseball team erased an early deficit and pulled away for an 8-3 win over Idaho Falls (20-10) Saturday at Bishop Kelly High School. The victory gave the Bruins (27-3) their first 4A state title since 2014, and their third since 2011. This one carried much more emotional heft.

“It was special for them,” Twin coach Tim Stadelmeir said.

“These kids, these seniors went through a lot.”

Right before the state tournament began, Twin’s players shaved the number 12 into the back of their hair. The symbol wasn’t reserved for the seniors, nor did it represent them. It represented the player who never reached his senior season.

In July, Terex Hatfield died in a watercraft accident. He was 17

and about a month away from beginning his senior year at Twin Falls High School. He was an outfielder and pitcher for the baseball team. He wore the No. 12.

Terex’s brother, D’Artagnan, wore No. 12 this season for the Bruins. The sophomore was overcome with tears after Saturday’s game. So were most of his teammates.

“He’s in my mind 24/7,” Twin senior third baseman Aaron Brann said Saturday. “Me and him were best friends, and I definitely called him a brother.”

Terex was both in and on the Bruins’ heads on Saturday, and they credited him with Saturday’s win, which didn’t initially look as easy as the final score.

Stadelmeir was happy to be the home team on Saturday, but part of him likes to be the first team to bat, and the first team to deliver a blow. Instead, Idaho Falls did just that on Saturday by scoring two runs in the top of the first inning.

The first inning damage could have been worse, too. With two outs and runners on first and second base, I.F.’s Jackson Madsen hit a single. The runner at second ran through a stop sign at third base, got caught in a run-

down and was tagged out to end the inning.

“I definitely got scared,” Brann said. “They came at us quick, which, I give them props. They swung the bat really well.”

The Tigers looked primed to increase the lead in the top of the second, when Braxton ball a leadoff single. With one out, Hunter Leavitt lined a ball into the left field gap. It looked destined for extra bases and possible a run. Instead, senior center fielder Chase Hagl fully extended for a diving catch.

The next batter hit a low liner into short center field. Once again, Hagl dove and made a diving catch.

Hagl said those were his first two diving catches of the season.

Perhaps he was aided by an angel in the outfield. “(Terex) could make them plays, too,” Hagl said.

Baseball is full of peaks and valleys. The teams that win, Stadelmeir said, are the ones that react well to the valleys. The Bruins showed they belonged in that group on Saturday.

Twin senior shortstop Ryan Nolan led off the bottom of the third inning with the double.

Two batters later, he scored on a

throwing error by the third baseman. Brann came up next and tied the game with a triple, and he scored on a Skylar Holcomb sacrifice fly.

The lead was Twin’s for good.

The Bruins scored two more runs in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead. I.F. cut it to 5-3 in the top of the sixth, but Twin responded with three in the bottom half.

“To win this tournament, you have to hit,” Stadelmeir said. “We hit.”

The Bruins also received strong starting pitching performances in their three state games, as their 25-7 run differential indicated. On Saturday, senior Ryan Eller became the first Twin pitcher of the tournament to throw a complete game, despite the rocky start.

“The nerves threw me off the first inning. I had a lot of adrenaline,” Eller said. “After that first inning, it went away, and I started focusing in.”

Multiple seniors played for the 2014 team that beat Lakeland 4-1 for the 4A title. Brann was one of Please see BRUINS, Page D4

More online: For recap with

video, visit magicvalley.com

Bruins take home fourth place BRUCE BOURQUIN

FOR THE TIMES-NEWS‌

‌POST FALLS – Twin Falls was aiming for its first state 4A softball championship since 2014 in an elimination game against defending state champion Middleton on Friday on a wet Friday at Post Falls High.

Just one day earlier, Twin Falls had sent Middleton to the loser’s bracket in the first round.

The Bruins fell short Saturday, however, as the Vikings scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning en route to a 6-1 win, and ended Twin Falls’ season in the process.

Middleton ended up coming all the way back to win the state

title, beating Ridgevue of Nampa twice, by scores of 2-0 in the first game and 3-2 in the second one.

“I think we had a good tournament,” Burk said. “I told our athletic director (Mike Federico), ‘How many times did David beat Goliath? We brought home some hardware. It wasn’t the color we wanted, but I’m proud of these girls and I think that for the two seniors that’re leaving us (Amelia Deaton and Haley Durbin), we’re pretty young. I hope they know what it takes to win a state title.”

In one of many symbols of Twin Falls’ season, junior pitcher and shortstop Kylie Baumert Please see TWIN FALLS, Page D4

COURTESY PHOTO‌

Twin Falls poses for a picture with the 4A softball fourth-place trophy Saturday at Post Falls High School

SPORTS

D4 | Sunday, May 21, 2017

Times-News

Pontus Aberg’s goal puts Predators past Ducks in Game 5 GREG BEACHAM

AP Hockey Writer‌

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Pon‌ tus Aberg scored his first career playoff goal with 8:59 to play, and the Nashville Predators moved to the brink of their first Stanley Cup Final with a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night.

Aberg scored on a rebound of Filip Forsberg’s shot for the Predators, who took a 3-2 series lead despite the injury absence of top scorer Ryan Johansen and captain Mike Fisher.

Pekka Rinne made 32 saves in the Finnish goalie’s latest dominant playoff performance in Anaheim, where the Predators have won five of their last seven playoff games over two seasons.

Chris Wagner scored for the Ducks, who lost starting goalie John Gibson to injury during the first intermission.

Game 6 is Monday night in Nashville.

Jonathan Bernier took over and stopped 16 shots in his first appearance in nearly two weeks for the Ducks, who already were without 30-goal scorers Rickard Rakell and Patrick Eaves before losing Gibson to a lower-body injury.

Anaheim was knocked out of the playoffs last year by Nashville, and the Ducks are facing their second elimination game of the postseason after winning Game 7 against Edmonton in the second round.

The Predators still haven’t lost back-to-back games at any point in what’s looking like a charmed playoff run for an 18-season-old franchise that’s finally one game from playing for the Stanley Cup. After Colin Wilson scored the tying power-play goal late in the

Softball From D1

third baseman in the state.

She struggled all year because of the injury, but what we saw today is the real her,” said Taylor.

Timberlake tied the game with a three-home run in the bottom of the fifth. Filer responded in the top of the sixth, however, when leadoff hitter Roz Triplett doubled into the right center field gap, and Ryan slapped a single the other way to drive her in.

The bottom of the sixth inning proved to be the difference, as Timberlake plated five runs off of Ryan and senior Katherine Ferrell. Filer still had one last chance in the seventh inning. The Wildcats scored two runs to cut the deficit to 8-6 and had runners on first and third with Triplett, the go-ahead run, at the plate.

Triplett squared up the ball, but lined it directly into the Timberlake centerfielder’s glove.

“Some of our seniors had been struggling, but that was great. Kat (Ferrell) got a base hit, Jayden (Stoddard) got a base hit, and Roz has been great. Three of the four seniors had to do work for us to have a chance. I turned to Jayden at third base when Roz came up and said, ‘you ever seen Roz hit a home run?’ She hit it well. That’s who we wanted there,” said Taylor.

After missing the state tournament last year, Filer

Twin Falls From D1

finished the game with plenty of dirt and mud on her uniform. Baumert went 2-for-3 at the dish and scored the team’s only run in the top of the third on an RBI single by Taylor Avram that tied the game, 1-1.

Baumert also pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (one earned), one hit,

Bruins From D1

them, and he said Saturday’s win felt a little more gratifying than his first.

Twin followed up the 2014 win with a loss to Blackfoot in the 2015 title game and a loss to Middleton in the

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS‌

Nashville Predators celebrate after Colin Wilson scored against the Anaheim Ducks during the second period of Game 5 in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Western Conference finals Saturday in Anaheim, Calif. second period for the Predators, Aberg went flying when he stretched out to guide home Forsberg’s rebound for the tiebreaker.

The 23-year-old Swede has only one goal in his 15 games of regular-season NHL experience, but Nashville’s injuries thrust him into a key role alongside Forsberg on its top line.

Austin Watson added an emp-

ty-net goal in the final minute, emphatically ending Anaheim’s streak of seven consecutive Game 5 victories at home since 2011.

The last team to beat the Ducks in a Game 5 at Honda Center also was Nashville.

Aberg and several other role players all came up big in the Predators’ first game of the season without Johansen, their top-line

center and leading postseason scorer. Johansen had emergency surgery shortly after Game 4 and was ruled out for the rest of the playoffs.

Fisher missed his first game of his scoreless postseason with an undisclosed injury after taking a hit to the head in Game 4.

The Ducks also were hurting without Rakell, a surprise omis-

will take home a third-place trophy in Taylor’s first year as head coach. The Wildcats lose four seniors from this year’s group: Triplett, Ferrell, Stoddard, and Makenzie Kohler.

For Buhl, the day ended about two hours with a fourth-place finish, but the sting of defeat was much the same.

“This is the last group that I’ve coached since they were eight or nine years old. They’ve been leaving me one year at a time, and this is the last year that I’ve coached the players from eight years old on. To see those players work their tails off this year, I couldn’t have asked for more. They fought through it yesterday after getting outplayed by Bonners Ferry, and I’m proud of how they played today,” said Buhl head coach Derrik Brinkman.

Junior Madison Somers pitched her fourth complete game in a span of 24 hours in the loss. Just as Brinkman promised after the first game of the tournament, he rode his ace as far as she could go. She told him after the game that she would have pitched another game if needed, but she probably wouldn’t have been very effective.

“My arm is a little sore.

I haven’t ever pitched this much, but it’s good. I iced last night,” said Somers. “I want to pitch. I love pitching. I wanted to give it my all until I couldn’t go anymore.”

Ferrell earned the complete game shutout in the

circle for Filer, and freshman shortstop Sophie Bartholomew drove in two runs early. That was it for the scoring, as Somers and Ferrell locked in, and each team played virtually flawless defense.

Buhl loses five seniors from this year’s team, including the top two hitters in the lineup who double as Brinkman’s twin daughters, McKenna and Madison, number two starting pitcher Westy Anderson,

and cleanup hitter Kayla Cole.

“I can’t say enough about what these girls. In our huddle, there were tears, but I told them that they better be tears of joy. We went out playing about as well as we’ve played all year. We hit the ball fine, and Filer made plays. Kat threw great, and so did Madi,” said Brinkman. “It’s pitching that gets you where you want to go, and you have to get a few breaks in the middle.”

while she struck out two.

Twin Falls pitchers struggled with control in rainy conditions, walking nine batters in six Middleton atbats.

“It sucks that we lost, but we had fun as a team and in the end that’s really all that matters,” Baumert said. “We had a lot of fun memories.

It was like last year (in the state tournament at Twin Falls). We played them and it was pouring rain,” Bau-

mert said. “I think this is one of the best teams I’ve ever been on.”

Vikings sophomore starting pitcher Lainey Lyle pitched a complete game, striking out 11, walking two and allowing five hits and one run. Lyle’s arsenal of pitches included a fastball, rise ball, drop ball, drop curve, a screwball and a filthy changeup that kept some Twin Falls hitters off balance.

“I pitch hard and inside,” Lyle said. “I have a drop curve outside and low, it’s like a changeup. I actually like playing on a muddy field.”

Twin Falls’ season ends with a record of 20-9-1.

Middleton 6, Twin Falls 1

Twin Falls 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 —1 5 0 Middleton 1 0 0 3 0 2 X —6 2 1 Twin Falls: Pitching – Kylie Connell 1.1, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 4 BB; Kylie Baumert 3.1 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks Whitney Solosabal 1.1, 4 BB, 2 R, 1 ER; Leading hitters – Baumert 2-3, 2B, run; Taylor Avram 1-3, RBI.

2016 semifinals.

“Freshman year when we won, it almost made it seem easier than it really was,” Brann said. “The next year, we end up losing, and I was like, ‘Ok, this is a little hard.’ Next year, we lose in the second round, and I was like, ‘Alright, we need to change something up.’”

For the Twin baseball program, no win could negate Terex’s loss. Saturday provided a small dosing of healing, and the game served as a remembrance.

And the odes weren’t limited to the 12s on the back of their heads.

“We won this for Terex,” Eller said.

Idaho Falls 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 3 7 3 Twin Falls 0 0 3 2 0 3 X — 8 10 2 Idaho Falls: Pitching — Cannon Thompson (L) 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K; Derek Hurst 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. Leading hitters — Kaden Wyatt 1-3, 2B, RBI; Jace Jones 1-3, BB, RBI, R; Andrew Gregersen 1-3, BB. Twin Falls: Pitching — Ryan Eller (W) 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. Leading hitters — Aaron Brann 2-4, 2B, 3B, SB, 2 RBI, 2 R; Tanner VanOstran 2-4, 2B, RBI, R; Ryan Nolan, 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2 R; Skylar Holcomb 1-3, 2B, 3 RBI; Eller 1-2, BB.

sion due to a lower-body injury, and Eaves, who missed his ninth straight game. The duo combined for 65 regular-season goals.

The Ducks won Game 4 against Nashville in overtime and controlled long stretches of play in Game 5, but their depleted forwards repeatedly struggled to finish strong sequences against Rinne, who has beaten Anaheim in two previous playoff series.

When Gibson failed to return for the second period, Bernier was abruptly sent into the fourth playoff game of his NHL career, and he immediately made a handful of strong stops. Wagner then put the Ducks ahead by cleaning up a rebound of a shot by dynamic young defenseman Brandon Montour.

Nashville got a power play shortly before the second intermission when Josh Manson was whistled for cross-checking Filip Forsberg, who got away with an unpenalized stick to Manson’s mouth moments earlier. Wilson made the Ducks pay, slipping a difficult backhand around Bernier for his second goal of the playoffs and the 13th of his Predators postseason career, tying four other Preds for the franchise lead.

NOTES: C Frederick Gaudreau made his Stanley Cup playoff debut for Nashville, and veteran C Vern Fiddler returned from a twogame absence. F Miikka Salomaki also returned from five games off. ... F Nic Kerdiles made his third appearance of the postseason for Anaheim in Rakell’s absence.

Coach Randy Carlyle hadn’t indicated before pregame warmups that Rakell might miss a game. ...

Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler, Andrew Cogliano and Antoine Vermette have all scored just one goal apiece over the Ducks’ 16 playoff games.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Filer junior Idanna Cobb is greeted by her teammates at home plate after hitting her first home run of the game in the 4th inning Saturday, May 20, 2017, during the 3A State Softball semi-finals game against Timberlake at Buhl High School in Buhl.

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