POCATELLO — The Pocatello Rebels mounted a rally from seven down to defeat the Idaho Falls Tigers 15-10 Friday at Halliwell Park.
Pocatello swiped the lead away after a six-run fourth inning that put the Rebels ahead for good, 11-6.
Connor Bentley, the winning pitcher, had a two-RBI single to highlight the inning. The ball he hit sailed above the pitchers head before falling in the infield, feet away from the mound.
The Rebels pulled into the game by scoring five runs in the bottom of the third inning. They were fortunate enough to start the frame with the batters at the top of their lineup, Ian Norby, Jonathan Flores and Sam Liday, who batted one through three, respectively, all scored.
The run by Liday was one of three runs the freshman tallied for the day as he was 3 for 3 at the plate.
“We have a bunch of good hitters on our team, however, it takes one of them to start hitting for all of them to get going,” said Pocatello coach Jake Lewis. “But then after that, we scored 15 runs really quick.”
Lewis said Liday specifically has been swatting the ball with force in practice while also having success at just getting a bat on it, which led to him earning the third spot in the lineup.
His team scored at least four runs in three innings, including Pocatello’s last when the Rebels scored four runs to increase their lead from one run to five. Liday said it was as simple as his teammates finding enthusiasm when hits were strung together.
Production from the offense did not seem like a guarantee after the first two innings, which saw five Pocatello batters struck out. Nor did it appear the defense, which allowed four runs in the top of the third, would be able to fortify.
The failings at the mound were the biggest issue as the first two batters who stepped up to the plate in the first and second innings were walked. Idaho Falls’ Tanner Sucher scored the first run of the game, reaching home after a walk to first, two steals and a bad connection between pitcher and catcher.
The first and last run scored in the third were each compiled because of wild pitches, which happened to be thrown by different pitchers as Bentley came in during the inning.
Bentley showed enough poise to pitch the final 4.2 innings and gave up half as many runs that were allowed in the first three frames. He allowed three earned runs and two hits, though he walked six.
The Rebels travel to play Sugar-Salem at 11 a.m. today in a doubleheader.
POCATELLO REBELS, 15, IDAHO FALLS TIGERS 10
Idaho Falls 124 021 o — 10 5 4
Pocatello 005 604 x — 15 10 4
Pocatello — Pitchers: Cameron Corpus 2.1IP. 7R, 7ER, 3H, 7BB, 0K; Connor Bentley 4.2IP, 3R, 2ER, 2H, 2K, 6BB. Leading hitters: Sam Liday 3-3, 2B, 3R; Ian Norby 2-3, 3RBI, 2R.
Idaho Falls — Pitchers: Jace Jones 2.1IP, 4R, 4ER, 2H, 5K, 5BB; Jackson Madsen 1IP, 6R, 5ER, 3H, 0K, 2BB; Braydon McCord 1.2IP, 3R, 3ER, 4H, 1K, 2BB; Dawson Duffin 1IP, 2R, 1ER, 1H, 0K, 2BB. Leading hitters: Sucher 1-1, 2R. Angel Vasquez 1-3, 2R.