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Wolverines and Spartans Go Toe to Toe in Extra Innings Tournament Play
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Pitcher Nic Tidwell gives credit to God and acknowledges why his Wolverine’s are amazing as they beat the Minico Spartans last night 11-10, in one of the most exciting games this season in Great Basin Tournament baseball. PHOTO: William Pattnosh
 
 
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Tuesday, May 10, 2016
 

BY MICHAEL DAVID

It took 74 hours and 55 minutes to determine the victor in the second-round Great Basin Conference tournament baseball game between Wood River and Minico.

But after more than three days, 23 hits, 6 errors, 21 runs, rain delays, Mother’s Day, two days of school, thunder, lightning and rainbows, the Wolverines defeated the Spartans on a walk-off wild pitch in the extra innings Monday night at Founders Field in Hailey.

Sophomore catcher Ike Buxton raced home from third base with the winning run in the eighth inning of a seven-inning regulation game, capping an epic comeback for the never-say-quit boys from Wood River. The final score was 11-10, and the victory means the Wolverines move on to face the top-seeded Bruins from Twin Falls, who won their double elimination tournament Tuesday night in Twin Falls.

 
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Pitcher Cade Schott. PHOTO: William Pattnosh
 

On Saturday when the Wolverines’ tournament started, Minico came from behind to defeat Jerome for the right to face Wood River in the second round.

The Spartans rolled the dice against Jerome, choosing to save their ace pitcher--senior Jaden Jensen--to face the Wolverines.  The move almost backfired, as sixth-seeded Jerome jumped out to a 5-1 lead over third-seeded Minico. However, Minico was able to come back for the victory and squared off against Wood River in the second round game, which started at 4:30 pm.

After both teams failed to score in the first inning, Minico touched up Wolverine starter Cade Schott for two runs in the second.  It could have been worse had Wood River junior centerfielder Owen Gifford not thrown out the Spartan leadoff batter at second base as Gifford tried to stretch a single into a double. The Wolverines scored a run in their half of the second inning on back-to-back doubles by Buxton and Schott.

Minico added a run in the third inning to make the score 3-1, but Wood River got that run back in the bottom half of the inning on another pair of back-to-back doubles by seniors Nic Tidwell and Adrian Rojas.

 
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Wolverines leave Founders Field in victory after outlasting the Spartans. What a great team! PHOTO: William Pattnosh
 

Minico scored twice in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead over the home team, but Owen Gifford led off the Wolverine fourth with a triple and scored on a ground out to make the score 5-3. Later in the inning, Gunner Gibson singled to knock in Reide Whitehead and Rojas drove home Gibson to tie the game 5-5. The Wolverine momentum was stopped by Mother Nature as the skies opened up, forcing the umpires to stop the game and put the tarps over home plate and the pitcher’s mound.

After a short rain delay, Minico scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to go up by a score of 8-5, and the future did not look bright for the Wolverines. With thunder in the background, Cade Schott worked the count full against Jensen leading off the bottom of the fifth inning.  But Schott would not get a chance to complete his at-bat that day as the umpires spotted lighting and suspended the game for the safety of the players and the fans.

The game resumed Monday at 5 p.m., with both teams knowing a victory would send them to Twin Falls for a third-round matchup against the top-seeded Bruins.

Cade Schott stepped to the plate three days after he’d last toed the plate with the same full count, and he proceeded to rip the first pitch up the middle for a leadoff base hit.  Senior Dylan Broman picked up an RBI single, driving home Schott to close the gap against Minico 8-6 after five full innings of play.

 
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Wood River High School vs. Minico with the final score. PHOTO: William Pattnosh
 

Pitcher Nic Tidwell shut out the Spartans in the top of the sixth inning, giving the Wolverines a chance to tie up the game in the bottom of the sixth.  They did just that, as Buxton had a clutch single over the third baseman, driving in Tidwell and Rojas to knot up the score ateight runs apiece going into the seventh inning.

As was the case throughout this see-saw affair between these two conference rivals, Minico bounced back with two runs in the top of the seventh to give the Spartans a 10-8 lead, deflating the hopes of most of the Wolverine faithful in the crowd.

But Coach Green’s team would not be deterred as Senior Broman led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. He moved to second on a single by Senior Alec Nordseick. After a deep fly out by Whitehead, Gibson singled home Broman to cut the Spartan lead to one run, 10-9. Tidwell followed with a routine grounder to the Minico shortstop. Fortunately for the Wolverines, the ball glanced off the glove of the infielder, caroming into shallow center field, allowing an alert Nordseick to race all the way home from second base with the tying run, making the score 10-10.

Rojas made a bid to end the game in the seventh with a line drive to the gap in right center fielder. However, the Spartan centerfielder made a great running catch and doubled up Gibson at second base to end the Wolverine scoring threat and send the game into extra innings. Tidwell shut Minico out in their half of the eighth inning, giving his offense a chance to end this baseball marathon.

The first two Wolverines reached base safely as Buxton led off with a base on balls, and Schott reached on an error. After a Gifford fielder’s choice, Dylan Broman was intentionally walked to load the bases—setting the stage for the victory.  A 3-1 pitch bounced in the dirt and off the Minico catcher, careening just far enough for Buxton to race home from third with the winning run.  Buxton was mobbed by his teammates after touching home, as the Wolverines celebrated their huge conference tournament victory.

The celebration was short, however, as the Wolverines prepared to travel to Twin Falls Tuesday—May 10--with a berth in the conference finals and the state tournament hanging in the balance.  First pitch is 5 p.m.    

 

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