Tigers split series with Nampa to end regular season

The Mountain Home Tigers bounced back from a home loss against Nampa to beat the Bulldogs at Nampa and gain a split with the Bulldogs last week to close out the regular season.

Nampa 12

Tigers 9

The Nampa Bulldogs scored three runs in the top of the seventh on just one hit to complete a comeback as they downed Mountain Home, 12-9, snapping the Tigers six-game win streak.

The Tigers came out strong, scoring five runs in the first and added four more in the second to take a 9-0 lead. It looked like Mountain Home would end it early, but Nampa got to Tiger starter Jake Hiler for four runs in the third, and a five-run fifth tied the game at 9-9.

Nampa scored three runs in the top of the seventh after two were out to get the lead and then shut the Tigers down in the seventh to get the win.

Tiger baseball coach Travis DeVore agreed it was a bizarre ballgame.

"No doubt. There's so many things you can second guess after a game like that, and I'm sure I'll spend the evening going over in my mind some of those things. What was really astonishing to me were those middle innings where we still have a huge lead and we keep hitting line drives, and they're just not falling, all of a sudden it just seemed like things turned against us, and they started hitting the ball.

"We had some key errors and things like that, but I didn't feel like the emotional side got the best of us until maybe late in the game. It's just one of those goofy games and we've just got to try and remind the guys that it's late in the season. We don't have time to dwell on losses like that.

"It hurts, it stings, it's our last home game and certainly not the way we want to finish up here at home, but at the same time we've got to have a short-term memory when it comes to that game and bounce back.

"Our kids played well and hit the ball well, they threw well, they pitched well, it's just a goofy game -- there's no other way to put it."

John Murdorf had three hits and an RBI for Mountain Home, Cal Vivier, Alex Hoffman, Chris Rau and Eric Christiansen each had two hits. Hoffman and Rau both had RBIs. Jordan Cisna had a hit and RBI and Jake Hiler had an RBI.

Tigers 12

Nampa 7

The Tigers closed out their regular season schedule at Nampa last Wednesday and built up an 8-3 lead before Nampa came back within two, but a four-run sixth inning against Nampa's ace reliever Quaid Morris allowed the Tigers to pull away for the win.

Jake Hiler, Ricky Baker and Eric Christiansen each had two hits, Hiler had three RBIs, Christiansen, two, and Baker, one. Alex Hoffman and Brock Morris both had a hit and two RBIs, and Ricky Lee also had a hit.

Chris Rau got the win to even his record at 2-2, and Gabe Anderson pitched the final two innings to get the save.

"Obviously, rebounding after a tough loss last night is the important thing," said Coach DeVore after the game. "It looked for a while there like we were going to repeat the game, we got off to a big lead, they battled back, and then we extended it to another big lead and they come back again, so it was a little bit scary in that regard.

"We've got to shore up our defense a little bit, but Chris (Rau) threw well and Gabe (Anderson) came in and shut the door.

"I'm happy with the win, and it should solidify third place for us. I felt we'd be in the top three at the end of the season and that's where we're at, but now the real battle begins as we go into district next week."

The Tigers improved to 14-9 overall, and 9-5 in league play and had the number three seed going into the District III 4A Baseball Tournament that began Tuesday. The Tigers faced Emmett at Columbia. The district championship game is Friday at Columbia.