American Legion: Twins fall

Aug. 01--American legion

Down a pair of strikes with two down, DePaul Blunt got the kind of pitch that three-spot hitters of his caliber rarely see in tight ball games.

It was an old-fashioned meatball and Blunt hit the daylight out of it. Idaho Falls coach Joldy Watts cringed.

And the only thing that got in the way of an RBI base hit that would have put L-C's tying run in scoring position was Jalen Fuhriman's thigh. Even Blunt paused for a split-second as the baseball popped Idaho Falls' pitcher.

Fuhriman regathered himself and tossed to first for the easy out. He hobbled off the field, stepped over the first-base line and took to the ground, clenching his thigh in agony.

He wasn't supposed to throw Thursday, but Fuhriman, and his steel leg, helped the two-time defending champion Bandits remain unbeaten in the Idaho AA American Legion state tournament and Idaho Falls fended off a late rally from the host Lewis-Clark Twins to win 7-4 at Harris Field.

There was no doubt that Watts didn't fancy the idea of using Fuhriman, usually a starter, this early in the tournament.

Desperation called for the move, though, after Idaho Falls reliever Klay Cornelison walked three of the first four batters he saw in the eighth inning.

"I didn't, I really didn't," Watts said.

And there was no doubt that the Bandit bench would've rather seen catcher Jade Rencher call any other pitch in that moment, when the Twins, trailing 6-4, had runners on the corners.

"I was probably even more mad that it was an 0-2 pitch and we lifted it over the plate and the guy hit the living heck out of it," Watts said.

There wasn't much to be mad about, though, when Fuhriman shook off the obvious pain and threw out the speedy Blunt at first, holding L-C to just two runs in the inning.

"He's a tough kid. I don't care how tough you are -- that ball hurt," Watts said.

L-C didn't necessarily lose the game in that moment, though. The Twins out-hit their opponent, but dished out nine free passes. Just a night before, the hosts were out-hit, but came out with a comfortable 15-5, mercy-rule win over Mountain View.

"We gave them a hell of an effort ... we made them work for it," L-C coach Allen Balmer said. "When you play a really good ball club like they are, you just can't give them free runs."

A pair of leadoff walks, coupled with Beau Crouch's single, led to the first of those free runs and three of them in the second inning. Reliever Austen Jones was shelled in seventh inning, when the Bandits scored twice off four hits -- one of those being a deep Fuhriman triple.

Justin Chandrick paced the Twins with three hits, while Josh Moore and Sawyer Meacham each had four.

In today's games, Boise will face Idaho Falls in a battle of unbeatens at 7 p.m. Earlier in the day, Meridian and L-C will square off in a loser out game at 4 p.m., following an even earlier elimination battle between Twin Falls and Nampa at 1 p.m.

Idaho Falls 030 001 200-7 8 1

Lewis-Clark 000 001 120-4 9 2

Cason Johnson, Klay Cornelison (8), Calen Fehrman (8) and Jade Rencher. Kade Woods, Austen Jones (6) and Jessup Scott.

Idaho Falls hits -- Jordan Hadle 2, Beau Crouch 2, Rencher, Tyson Craig, Caleb Fehrman.

Lewis-Clark hits -- John Fuller, Justin Chandrick 3, Josh Moore 2, Sawyer Meacham 2, Tyler Gay.

Boise Gems 19, Nampa Chiefs 14

In an error-marred game, the Boise Gems used two big innings to claw past the Nampa Chiefs.

Both teams combined for 13 errors but the Gems scored 12 of their 19 runs in the third and seventh stanzas to seize control and hand the Chiefs their first loss at State.

Boise 015 101 701-19 15 7

Nampa 100 002 820-14 10 6

Jordan Lucas and Tyler Roper. Carlos Levi and Braydon Torres.

Boise hits -- Parker Price 2, Ryan Kim 2, Trey Steffler 4 (2B), <person>Jake Taylor 2, Jake Engelson 2 (2 2B), Cole Ducharme (2B), Tyler Roper 2.

Nampa hits -- Zach Penrod, Domenic Hammudeh, Zack Babeneau 3 (2B), Cutler Dunn, Rhys Vickers 2, Skyler Penrod 2 (2B).

Meridian Rangers 14, Mountain View Toros 1

Meridian's Tyler Winkler held Mountain View to three hits and the Rangers exploded for 15 mashes of their own as they eliminated the Toros.

Mountain View mustered its sole run in the sixth-inning and Meridian tacked on nine insurance runs after that to push its final margin to 13.

Mountain View 000 001 0- 1 3 0

Meridian 000 504 5-14 15 0

Caleb Burnham, Boden Mills (5), Nick Flesher (6) and Tanner McGrath. Tyler Winkler and Talon Kreft.

Mountain View hits -- Austin Francis, McGrath, James Lamb.

Meridian hits -- Drake Simons, Chase Lobbe 2 (2B), Tyler Hollingsworth 3 (2B), Kreft, Winkler, Austin Yrazabal 2, Nathan Pena 2 (2B), Kyle Redford 2 (2B), Adam Shelby.

Twin Falls Cowboys 11, Prairie Cardinals 1

The Cowboys corralled the Cardinals and sent them packing, holding Prairie to just one run despite ceding eight hits.

Twin Falls 312 000 401-11 11 0

Prairie 000 100 000- 1 8 5

Chandler Greenfield, Isaak Boyd (7) and Braden Stutzman. Logan Bruner, James Prockish (3) and Treavor Hammell.

Twin Falls hits -- Stutzman, Kaleb Jones, Robert Montoya 3 (2B, 3B), Aaron Brann 3, Dakota Kent, Cody Root 2.

Prairie hits -- Blake Wrotenberry, Kris Jackson 2 (3B), Trystan Valente 2, Dalton Strong, Kenny Cooper, Michael Bodak.

Lawson can be reached at (208) 848-2260 or at tlawson@lmtribune.com

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