BASEBALL

HIGHLAND 9, POCATELLO 1

At Halliwell Park, Highland improved to 3-0 with a commanding 9-1 victory over cross-town foe Pocatello.

“I thought our pitchers threw well for the most part,” Pocatello coach Vinnie Benavidez said. “There’s a lot of stuff we have to work on. We had some mistakes that come with a little bit of youth. We’ll get it figured out. It’s a long season. Jaxon did a good job on the bump for them.”

That had to be the story of the day. After missing his sophomore season with a broken back and pitching only one game before COVID shut down last season, Highland senior righty Jaxon Christensen tossed four innings of no-hit ball.

“It’s great. It’s what we expect out of him and he works his tail off to compete like that,” Highland coach Christian Colonel said of Christensen, a CSI commit. “There’s more in store for him. We go as Jax goes.”

Against Christensen, Poky started four sophomores and a freshman while bringing another freshman out of the pen.

Make no mistake, the Indians are young this season. They will spend the next couple weeks working out the kinks that are still rusty after a nixed season and a preseason taking grounders on hardwood.

“I like the group we got,” Benavidez said. “Youth translates to being out of position and mental mistakes that come with the game. When you have a lot of youth, you have to realize that you can’t get away with stuff on varsity that you can’t on JV.”

For the Rams, however, Friday was another signal that they’re on the right path forward. Christensen shoved. Their tempo and ability to quickly relay signs improved. And their offense produced 9 hits on a dozen hits.

The only concerning thing for Colonel was that Highland left seven runners aboard.

“We left too many guys in scoring position,” Colonel said. “We had a scattered 12 hits.”

Highland (3-0) hosts Century on Friday.

Pocatello (0-1) plays a double-header at Canyon Ridge on Saturday.

AMERICAN FALLS 29, WEST JEFFERSON 3 (5)

At American Falls, the Beavers got its first victory of the season in grand fashion, rolling over West Jefferson 29-3.

American Falls turned 20 hits and nine walks amazingly into 29 runs. Because they left five runners on, they must have stole some bases on dropped strike three. And that would make sense because the Beavers stole a whopping 22 bases in Friday’s five-inning contest.

Starter Issac Avalos only allowed two hits and a run in his three innings of work. He also led the Beavers at the plate, going 4-5 with a double and 3 RBI.

As a team, American Falls had five players record at least three hits and another five tally at least a trio of RBI.

American Falls (1-1) hosts Soda Springs on Saturday.

AMERICAN FALLS 29, WEST JEFFERSON 3 (5)

West Jefferson 001 02X X — 3 3 1

American Falls 175 16XX X — 29 20 0

American Falls — ND: Issac Avalos. 2B: Josh Smith, Issac Avalos, Andrew Adkins.

DECLO 17, ROCKLAND 3 (3)

DECLO 3, ROCKLAND 6 (5)

At Rockland, the Bulldogs lack of depth showed itself in its season-opening losses to Declo.

“For a school as small as ours, we could only get 12 students ours,” Rockland coach Craig Cook said. “Pitching is defiantly our biggest weakness. And just confidence. We were all — myself included — were unsure about what to expect. Not having a season last year is really hurting us.”

It showed itself in the first inning of the season, when Declo scored 14 runs in the opening frame en route to a 17-3 victory over the Bulldogs.

“I think it’s a good starter for this season,” Cook said. “Declo is a good program and it showed us every weakness we have. We had some moments where good things going but, unfortunate, we had more moments where things weren’t going so well.”

With that, Dylan Merritt and JT Parish both hit doubles for Rockland.

Rockland (0-2) plays at Highland’s freshman team on Friday.

DECLO 17, ROCKLAND 3 (3)

Rockland 021 XXX X — 3 6 1

Declo 14 2 1 XXX X — 17 17 0

Rockland — LP: Teague Matthews. 2B: Dylan Merritt

DECLO 3, ROCKLAND 6 (5)

Rockland 004 02X X — 6 4 0

Declo 561 1XX X — 13 15 0

Rockland — LP: Corbin Garner. 2B: JT Parish.

SOFTBALL

HIGHLAND 9, CANYON RIDGE 2

HIGHLAND 8, CANYON RIDGE 0 (3)

At Highland, the Rams swept Friday’s doubleheader with a 9-2 and 8-0 win over Canyon Ridge.

“It was really nice. Me and my assistant coach were talking and a lot of the girls on our team, we’ve never really coached this year,” Highland coach Tisha Coverdell said. “It was nice to get some non-district games under our belt today. We have 14 on our roster today.”

In a shortened second game, senior Madi Vansickle tossed three shutout innings and only allowed a pair of hits. She also helped the Rams by going 4-5 on the day, smacking a pair of doubles that led to four RBI.

“She has a very good leader. She did a good job with her pitching today,” Coverdell said. “There were some hits today here she broke it open and the first double she hit was a 3-RBI double.

On Friday, Vansickle’s performance was only bested by that of sophomore Marissa Mauger. In her first ever high school games, Mauger was immaculate. In the first game, she tossed a complete-game, three-hitter, giving up just one earned run while fanning 14. Even better, the sophomore jacked home runs in both games Friday.

“I’ve been coaching her pitching since she was young,” Coverdell said. “As an all-around player, I haven’t coached her yet. She did a great job today.”

Highland (2-0) hosts Century on Wed., March 31.

HIGHLAND 9, CANYON RIDGE 2

Canyon Ridge 000 001 1 — 2 3 3

Highland 011 601 X — 9 6 1

Highland — WP: Marissa Mauger. HR: Marissa Mauger. 2B Madi Vansickle.

HIGHLAND 8, CANYON RIDGE 0 (3)

Canyon Ridge 000 XXX X — 0 2 3

Highland 512 XXX X — 8 6 0

Highland — WP: Madi Vansickle. HR: Marissa Mauger. 2B Madi Vansickle, Jenna Kearns, Tayga Young.

CENTURY 8, MARSH VALLEY 5

At Century, the Diamondbacks scored in each of the first four innings and came out with a 8-5 win over Marsh Valley.

“They came out and jumped on us. Marsh Valley is going to win some games this year. They have a good, young pitcher San their 1-4 hitters and really good,” Century coach Bruce Givens said.

Diamondbacks pitcher Aramy Glaser threw a complete game, allowing five earned runs, 10 hits while striking out 14. On offense, Glaser laced two hits that led to three runs while Libby Evans went 3-4 with a triple.

For Givens, though, Century’s first game in a year went surprisingly without many mistakes.

“That was like the first time in the history in softball there wasn’t an error in the first game,” Givens joked. “I only have three seniors and only two girls who played a good amount of varsity experience. And for four of them, it was their first high school game.

“It was a frustrating year last year — that would have been the best team we’ve had out here in a long time and we didn’t even get to play.”

Century (1-0) plays at Highland on Wed., March 31.

Marsh Valley (0-2) plays at Malad on Saturday.

CENTURY 8, MARSH VALLEY 5

Marsh Valley 200 001 2 — 5 10 2

Century 122 201 X — 8 8 0

Century — WP: Army Glaser. 3B: Libby Evans. 2B: Elon Williams, Emma Williams.

Marsh Valley — LP: Libbie Larson.