BOISE — Timberline jumped on Highland early and beat the Rams 17-5 in six innings Thursday at Borah High School in the opening round of the 5A state tournament.
Timberline (17-10) broke the game open with a 12-run second inning, burying the Rams in their own mistakes. In the frame, Highland had two errors, allowed nine hits and walked three batters. The Wolves sent 17 batters to the plate and had five players with at least one RBI. Highland (15-11) came to bat in the bottom of the second down 12-0.
“Twelve runs in the inning took the air out of our sails,” Highland coach Christian Colonel said. “It’s unfortunate this had to happen in the first round.”
The Wolves’ onslaught forced Highland starting pitcher Dahlin Ashby to be relieved after 1 1/3 innings. He was replaced by Landon Carr, who allowed six hits and tallied seven walks through 4 1/3 innings. Dalton Jones replaced Carr in the bottom of the sixth inning after Carr walked four consecutive batters.
The first batter Jones faced in the frame was Alex McFarland-Smith, who cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple to give the Wolves a 16-5 advantage, reigniting the mercy rule.
The Rams went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, ending the game and sending Highland to the consolation bracket, where the Rams play Rocky Mountain at Capital High on Friday in a loser-out game.
Highland senior Dahlin Ashby pitches in the Rams' state 5A baseball tournament game against Timberline on Thursday, May 17, 2018 at Borah High School in Boise.
“We had opportunities to get out of innings,” Colonel said. “We didn’t make the plays. I don’t know if it was nerves, or we were not prepared enough.”
Highland scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded and a walk with the bases loaded, cutting its deficit to 12-2.
The Rams inched closer in the bottom of the fourth after an RBI single from Dylan Jester made the score 12-3, and Easton Durham’s two-RBI double in the fifth brought the Rams within 12-5. The Wolves closed the door on the rally with a five-run sixth.
The Rams left the bases loaded in the bottom of the third and fourth frames. The Rams also stranded nine runners on base in the first five innings.
“We weren’t as aggressive as I’d like us to be,” Colonel said. “It was an inopportune time to have a hitting game like this. Nothing was clicking.”
Timberline finished with 13 hits, and eight different Wolves registered at least one base knock. The group was led by McFarland-Smith’s three-hit outing. He added a team-high five RBIs, while teammate Jonah Hultberg had four RBIs. The pair combined for five hits, the same total the Rams had as a team.
“Timberline is a good hitting team,” Colonel said.
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