Cardinals Swing Into The Season

The Soda Springs baseball team kicked off their season last weekend by taking part in the Wood Bat Tournament in Challis.  The Cardinals faced three teams during the two day stretch and ended up going two and two in the tournament.

The Cardinals got off to a slow but solid start in the tournament when they took on Idaho City.  After one full inning neither team had scored a run leaving the scoreboard blank.  It would stay slow in the second inning as well, however the Cardinals would manage to knock in a single run as they would take the lead going into the third.  Finally in the third the bats would heat up and the Cardinals would get six more players across the plate to take a seven run lead.  Soda Springs would keep things rolling in the fourth.  Despite giving up one run the Cardinals would win their opening game by the score of eleven to one.

Next up for the Cardinals was the co-op home team of Challis/Mackay that go by the Rivercats.  Soda Springs continued to hit well in the opening inning.  A two run homer by Dilworth helped the Cardinals earn a four to two advantage after one.  In the second inning the momentum would shift to the Rivercats.  The Rivercats would take the lead following a four run inning that saw the Cardinals go scoreless.  In the third inning the Cardinals once again struggled to get anything going from their at bat while giving up a pair of runs.  Soda was now in a four run deficit going into the fourth inning.  In the fourth neither team earned a run and the Cardinals still trailed going into the final inning.  Dilworth's big game would continue as he hit his second home run of the game and the Cardinals cut into the lead.  With the bases loaded and two outs Soda Springs had an opportunity to tie or take the lead.  Unfortunately the next hitter was thrown out and the very competitive game ended with the Cardinals losing by just one run.

With day one behind them the Cardinals looked to get a good start on their first opponent of day two.  That opponent was the Salmon Savages.  Some great base running lead by Kyen Kirby helped the Cardinals to strike first on the scoreboard taking a four run lead in the top of the first.  The Savages struck back in the bottom of the inning putting up five runs of their own and taking the lead.  From there things would not improve for the Cardinals.  After failing to score in the top of the second Soda Springs struggled to get off of the field.  Despite earning several full counts in the inning the Savages would add six more runs putting the Cardinals in a deep hole heading into the third.  The third inning was a repeat of the second.  Once again the Cardinals failed to score while the Savages added six more runs.  This game would end early in the fourth with Soda Springs falling by thirteen runs.

After dropping two tough games the Cardinals were slated to face their day one opponents Idaho City.  In the opening inning the Cardinals once again struggled to get off of the field as they watched Idaho City score six runs.  Soda Springs would chip away at that lead a little in the bottom of the first but still ended the inning trailing by three.  The second inning was a quick one with Idaho City only getting one batter on base and the Cardinals going three up three down.  Soda Springs still trailed by three going into the third.  The improving defense of the Cardinals made quick work of Idaho City in the top of the third.  In their at bat Soda Springs was able to add a pair of runs and cut the lead to just one point heading into the fourth.  In the top of the fourth the momentum seemed to temporarily shift to Idaho City who added a pair of runs of their own.  As Soda Springs stepped to the plate to take their turn at hitting the Cardinal’s bats came alive.  With several hits and great base running the Cardinals racked up eight runs in the inning and walked away with the win.

The Cardinals will look to improve their record in a busy week this week.  Soda Springs faced Firth on Tuesday in a double header and now will travel to Bear Lake Thursday before jumping over to Wendell on Saturday.

Cardinals 0 1 6 5 11

Wildcats 0 0 0 1 1

Cardinals  4 0 0 3 0 7

Rivercats 2 4 2 0 - 8

Cardinals 4 0 0 0 4

Savages 5 6 6 - 17

Cardinals 3 0 2 8 13

Wildcats 6 0 0 2 8