CALDWELL, Idaho - On a frigid Friday afternoon in Caldwell, the Yotes baseball team showed out in front of the home faithful, taking down Park-Gilbert twice on Friday, winning the first game, 15-8 and the nightcap, 11-2.
GAME 1
The Yotes had a few stellar offensive performances in game one, led by the middle of the batting order. Ben Gaff, Jake Denison, and Kirby Robertson all finished with three RBI combining for nine of the Yotes 13 RBI's in the game. Tristen Garland went 2-3 for the game, scoring three times from his leadoff position.
The Buccaneers jumped out to an early lead, scoring a pair in the top of the second, thanks to Thomas Moore and Aaron Stinnett. The next Bucs run wouldn't come until the fifth, when Stinnett would score on a passed ball. Brenden Blakeman added to the Bucs tally with a long ball in the sixth, and Moore would drive in the final two Buccaneer runs of the game.
Despite only pitching a third of an inning, Jack Stewart is credited with the win, as he was the pitcher to keep the Yotes lead through the fifth inning. Stewart's record moves to 1-0 on the year. Jackson Cummins gets credited with the save, going four strong innings in relief and striking out five.
GAME 2
Game two was all about the Yotes, dominating from start to finish in a wire-to-wire victory. The talk has to be about freshman Nate Vidlak, who was sensational on the mound. Vidlak earned his first career victory, going five solid innings and striking out eight. In the second inning, Vidlak was a pitch away from an immaculate inning. Vidlak struck out the first two batters of the inning on three pitches, and had an 0-2 count before the Buccaneer batter took a ball, followed by a strikeout on the very next pitch. All six outs in the second and third innings were Vidlak strikeouts en route to victory.
The Yotes offense was led by two-RBI performances from Tristen Garland, Jonah Hultberg, and Jordan Kelly. Garland drove in the first of his runs on an RBI single in the second inning, while later picking up a sacrifice fly. Hultberg smashed his first home run of the year in the third, blasting it out to right center field at Wolfe Field. The final Yotes run of the contest came in the fourth, where Kelly doubled to right field, driving in Denison and Gaff.
The Buccaneer in offense was held silent by Vidlak, and would spoil the shutout in the seventh inning. Joel Adamson hit a double to right field, driving in Logan Livingston. The final Buccaneer run would come on a RBI ground out by Alex Choinard to score Adamson.
As mentioned, Vidlak earned his first career win on Friday, going five innings and striking out eight, six of which came in a two inning span. Nick Eliason pitched three solid innings of relief, allowing two runs but striking out three. Willy Shirts entered in the ninth inning to close up shop and lead the Yotes to their fifth-consecutive victory.
Next up for the Yotes is another doubleheader against Park-Gilbert on Saturday at Wolfe Field.