Maniacs go run-crazy on Bulldogs

Apr. 17—KOOSKIA — For the whole season, the Orofino Maniacs and Grangeville Bulldogs have been the top baseball teams in the Class 2A Central Idaho League. On Tuesday at Clearwater Valley High School in Kooskia, the two squads played like it.

A pair of home runs, 3-foot drops in breaking balls, lay-out catches and solid pitching were all present in a game Orofino won 11-6.

"Both teams competed well," Orofino coach Scotty Tondevold said. "No team is really out of it. Either club could've came away with the win today.

"It's not over until the last out, so you play until the end and I think Grangeville did that. And I think we did as well, and at the end of the day it was a really good game."

The Maniacs (13-1-1, 4-0-1) built an early lead that the Bulldogs (11-3, 3-3) threatened several times throughout, but couldn't overcome.

Here's how the game between the two league standard-bearers played out:

Goicoa goes long

Orofino and Grangeville both had early opportunities to take the lead but couldn't take advantage. In the second inning, the Maniacs struck first.

Orofino's Quinton Naranjo brought in a run on a sacrifice fly, Landon Hudson scored on a wild pitch and Jaeger Tondevold brought in another score with an RBI single to put the Maniacs up 3-0 after the top of the second.

Grangeville responded in their half of the inning. Carter Mundt brought in a run with a sac grounder to cut the score to 3-1. This set up David Goicoa for the first of his two home runs — a two-run shot over the left-field fence to tie the game at three.

Goicoa's first long ball was the last time the Bulldogs didn't trail during the game.

Maniacs bats come alive

The Maniacs' starting pitcher, Gavin Christopherson, threw five innings. His outing included nine strikeouts.

Christopherson's performance on the mound was backed up with a strong Orofino defense that stranded four Bulldogs from the second-through-fifth frames.

"Obviously the two home runs were not part of the plan," Christopherson said. "But we just noticed from our previous game against them their weaknesses. ... (I was) throwing off-speed (pitches), keeping the balls out of the strike zone and working ahead as much as possible. And most importantly, trusting the guys behind me. I think we have one of the top defenses in the state. So that made it really comfortable up there (on the mound)."

With strong pitching and defense, it made sense that the Maniacs' offense followed suit.

Orofino put up five runs in the top of the third inning, which ended up being the final margin.

Dash Barlow broke the seal with the first run, which was scored via wild pitch. Christopherson, who also led the Maniacs at the plate with three hits, put up two more on the scoreboard with a single.

Jaeger Tondevold capped off the offensive display with a two-run single of his own to make it 8-3 Maniacs through the top of the third.

But the Bulldogs still had some bite left for their league foes.

Grangeville threatens

Goicoa's second home run of the day came in the bottom of the fourth. It was another two-run shot, that time over the center field fence.

The home run cut the Orofino lead down to 8-5. After that inning, the Bulldogs had several more chances to bring their deficit down further or eliminate it entirely.

In the bottom of the fifth while down five, Grangeville left the bases loaded. They left another two on base an inning later.

Most of the Bulldogs' best opportunities to score came in clutch situations — with two outs or with double-play potential for the Maniacs defense.

Grangeville was able to get on base no problem (nine hits and eight walks). But it failed to bring runners home in those clutch situations and left nine stranded for the game.

"We got to do a better job offensively when we get runners in scoring position," Grangeville coach Lee Nadiger said. "I felt like we did hit the ball pretty well today. Just not in key spots.

"Our pitching's got to be a little sharper, got to play a little better defensively and we know we got to run the bases better. Just little things that we got to clean up."

2A Central Idaho League heating up

Orofino's win on Saturday keeps it undefeated in league play. All of the Bulldogs' losses have come against the Maniacs.

Scotty Tondevold has emphasized to his team to not overlook any opponent, and Nadiger has mentioned there's still a couple of things for his squad to work on.

But all signs point to the 2A Central Idaho League title coming down to another matchup between Orofino and Grangeville.

"Nothing's ever in the bag," Scotty Tondevold said. "And at the end of the day, we got to show up and play like it's your last game. We got to make routine plays routine and show up to compete every day. ... Anyone can be anyone on any given day."

Orofino 035 021 0—11 10 2

Grangeville 030 201 0—6 9 2

Gavin Christopherson, Silas Naranjo (6) and S. Naranjo, Christopherson (6); Cody Klement, Carter Mundt (3), JT Jackson (7) and Thayn Williams. W—Christopherson; L—Klement.

Orofino hits — Christopherson 3, Jaeger Tondevold 2, Bodey Howell 2, Aiden Olive, Landon Hudson, Quinton Naranjo.

Grangeville hits — David Goicoa 2 (2-HR), Mundt 2 (2B), Ray Holes 2, Jackson 2, Klement.

Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.