Weiser baseball team earns consolation trophy at state tournament

 Weiser Wolverines opened up state play on Thursday against the Kimberly Bulldogs. The state tournament moved to Idaho Falls this year after being held for countless years at TVCC and Fruitland.
 Weiser started out the first inning as the visiting team and hit well. Logan Wood was leadoff batter for Weiser and singled to right field. Kooper von Brethorst singled as well bringing Brett Spencer to the plate. Spencer hit a triple over centerfield, scoring both Wood and K. von Brethorst.
 Brady Edwards walked  for the Wolverines and then a pop out ended the scoring rally with a score of 4-0. Going into the bottom of the first inning, Weiser had big lefty, Ray Calley, on the mound.
 The Bulldogs recorded one hit during the inning, Weiser had one error putting a Bulldog runner on the bases. Kimberly scored one run in the inning after a sac fly tag up.
 Wood started the Wolverines off again in the top of the second inning with a hard hit past third base. Kooper von Brethorst bunted out to the pitcher, but advanced Wood to second base. Spencer hit a nice single to the left fielder advancing runners. That would be all that Weiser  mustered after a hit and run ended up in a double play situation.
 The Bulldogs got a couple of legitimate hits and loaded the bases after a batter was hit by a pitch, but Weiser held them to a scoreless inning.
 In the top of the third, Weiser got one batter on from a walk, but a pop out and two ground outs left them scoreless.
 In the bottom of the third, Kimberly began to get some timing on Ray Calley and scored some runs on a walk, a single, and a double, forcing Weiser to bring in Brady Edwards to pitch.
 Two more hits and a walk from Edwards brought in Jarret Mink to pitch for the Wolverines. Mink forced a fly out and a strike out to get out of the inning with a deficit score of 5-4.
 No momentum was found by the Wolverines in the top of the fourth inning, going three up and three down. In the bottom of the fourth, Kimberly got their timing, hitting three singles, two doubles, and a triple.
 Those hits, along with errors by the Wolverines, forced a pitching change to Kooper von Brethorst and allowed 12 runs to score during the inning.
 Bottom of fourth inning Weiser was down 17-4. It was do or die time for the Wolverines going into the top of the fifth inning. Weiser collected an out right off the bat and then Brody von Brethorst walked. Jayden Mink came to the plate and hit a single to centerfield that score B. von Brethorst.
 That was all that the Wolverines could come up with, losing to the Bulldogs 17-5. Ray Calley pitched two and a third innings, allowed 4 runs on 4 hits. Brady Edwards allowed 1 run on 2 hits, while Jarret Mink pitched one inning, allowing 11 runs on 7 hits and 2 strikeouts. Kooper von Brethorst pitched two thirds of an inning allowing 1 run on 0 hits and recording 1 strikeout.
Weiser vs. Priest River
 Weiser fought to stay in the state tournament on Friday, May 17. The Wolverines faced the Priest River Spartans from Northern Idaho. Weiser won the flip taking the home field advantage.
 Priest River came to the plate first with a couple of singles, two strikeouts and a pop up to end the top of the first inning with no score with Willy Shirts on the mound.
 Then the Wolverines came to bat at the bottom of the first. Logan Wood was leadoff batter and eager to hit for the Wolverines, ending up with a pop out for out one. Kooper von Brethorst came up and hit a solid triple for the Wolverines out to right fielder. Brett Spencer was up next for the Wolverines and worked the pitch count including a pass ball where K. von Brethorst scored for Weiser.
 Weiser followed with a couple of strikeouts for the inning but ended the bottom of the first with a score of 4-0. Willy Shirts started the top of the inning, striking out two Spartan batters. Shirts walked the next batter and allow a single to have runners on first and second. But a final out ensured no runners would score.
 In the bottom of the second inning Weiser recorded a first out on a grounder to short stop. Kooper von Brethorst would come to the plate and get on after being hit by the pitch. Brett Spencer laid down a bunt advancing von Brethorst to second and getting on first. Brody von Brethorst had a nice single to right field, scoring K. von Brethorst and advancing Spencer to third.
 With runners on first and third, every team has a play where the catcher throws to short or second to try to draw the runner off of third base while the one on first base steals second. The Spartan’s catcher flipped the ball so quickly back to the third base on the steal from first to second that it caught the Weiser runner at third for an out.
 Weiser then grounded out to end the inning with a score of 5-0.
 In the bottom of the third, Tyler Pope would get hit by a pitch to get on base, followed by Nathan McDaniel who laid down a bunt, getting thrown out at first base but advancing Pope to second. Brady Edwards was busy working a pitch count when a wild pitch was recorded, advancing Tyler Pope to third base. Edwards would wind up getting on due to being hit by a pitch. Edwards would also steal second, but the inning would end with an unconventional double play ball.  
 In the bottom of the fourth inning, Kooper von Brethorst would hit a hard shot to center field and get on through a recorded error. He would get all the way to third on a pass ball with Brett Spencer at bat. Brett would single to short stop, scoring K. von Brethorst in the process. Brody von Brethorst was still hitting and recorded a single, advancing Spencer to third base. Jayden Mink would get up to bat and ground out to the short stop, but not before scoring Spencer and advancing B. von Brethorst to third. Tyler Pope would hit a single and score B. von Brethorst.
 Weiser would leave Pope on with a strikeout and a ground out bringing the score to 8-0. Top of the fifth inning Priest River went three up and three down bringing Weiser back up to the plate.
 With bases loaded, Brett Spencer was hit by a pitch, scoring Calley, and bringing Brody von Brethorst to hit a solid ground ball right up the middle for a walk off 10-0 game ending hit.
 The Wolverines advanced to the consolation championship after the win. Weiser had 10 runs, from 12 hits, and recorded 8 RBIs. Brody von Brethorst led the offense going 4 for 4 with 3 RBIs, followed by Brett Spencer who went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs. Willy Shirts pitched all 5 innings for the Wolverines allowing 0 runs on 5 hits, and striking out 8.  
 “We had a lot of fun during the game today. The weather wasn’t perfect, but their attitudes were. We rallied and enjoyed the game and the win today,” Coach Bowe von Brethorst said.
Consolation Championship Weiser vs. Timberlake
 Weiser faced Timberlake in the consolation championship Saturday. Weiser had played Timberlake earlier in the season during a tournament and beat them, but a lot can change in a state tournament.
 Jarret Mink started out on the mound for the Wolverines and Timberlake went three up and three down in the top of the first inning. Logan Wood came to the plate and earned a walk and got to third off an error by the catcher. Kooper von Brethorst came to the plate and slapped a single to centerfield to score Wood. Brett Spencer hit a hard shot to left field and got on base on a recorded error and scored K. von Brethorst.
 Weiser grounded out to finish the inning with a score of 4-0. Weiser’s defense had some errors during the top of the second inning and allowed Timberlake to get back into the game 4-3.
 Weiser then played a little small ball in the bottom of the second inning to advance some runners, and a nice double by Brett Spencer scored Wood. Brody von Brethorst hit one deep into centerfield for a triple to score Spencer. Weiser ended the inning 6-3.
 Timberlake went three up and three down before the Wolverines went three up and three down in the bottom of the third. Some great defense and pitching helped to keep Timberlake scoreless in the top of the fourth with a couple of ground outs to shortstop and second base followed by a pop up to third.
 In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jack Burke got a chance to pinch hit and singled to get on base. Logan Wood would move him to second on a bunt but wouldn’t reach first base. Then the baseball powers went south quickly.
 Kooper von Brethorst lined into a double play ball with a great hit to second base, and Burke couldn’t make it back in time to tag up.
 In the top of the fifth inning, Weiser had a pitching change from young Mink to older Mink. Jayden came in for relief and it took the Wolverines a few outs to settle in. Timberlake got on base with an error and some decent base hitting to bring the score to 6-5.
 Brett Spencer and Brody von Brethorst both hit singles in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jayden Mink lined out to the third baseman and on a controversial call, Spencer scored for the Wolverines, but B. von Brethorst was thrown out at second base. Weiser couldn’t get anything else on the board during the inning.
 Timberlake hit the ball in the top of the sixth, scoring two more and bringing the score to 7-7. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Nate McDaniel was hit by a pitch and on a recorded ground ball error, Logan Wood got on base. McDaniel tried to get to third and was thrown out on another controversial call. Weiser would pop out to end the inning. Weiser was up 10-7.     
 In the top of the seventh Timberlake hit some singles and Weiser had an error to bring the score to 10-10. In the bottom of the seventh inning Weiser couldn’t quite get their offense going and were scoreless.
 A pitching change to Nathan McDaniel occurred in the top of the eighth inning. A couple of errors by the Wolverines looked to be the end for the Wolverines, but then Timberlake would strikeout and hit into a double play to end the inning still tied.
 In the bottom of the eighth inning, Brett Spencer grounded  out to the third baseman, Brody von Brethorst walked. Jayden Mink then hit a single to centerfield, pushing B. von Brethorst to third base. Timberlake put Tyler Pope on first to load the bases and have a force out at every base, which brought up Ray Calley to bat. Ray Calley hit the walk off single to centerfield, scoring B. von Brethorst and brought home the consolation championship trophy for the Wolverines.
 “Wow! These boys have been on a roller coaster. To lose at the start of the tournament and have to have the mentality to battle back is a great Wolverine characteristic. They have worked hard, believed in each other, and competed at the highest level that they can. I am proud of their accomplishments,” coach Bowe von Brethorst said.
 Jarret Mink pitched 4 innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 strikeouts. Jayden Mink pitched 3 innings, allowing 7 runs on 10 hits. Nathan McDaniel pitched 1 inning, allowing 0 runs on 0 hits and one strikeout for the win.
 On the offensive side Brett Spencer and Jayden Mink went 3 for 5 at the plate to lead the Wolverines. Weiser had 11 runs on 17 hits with 7 RBI’s. Kooper von Brethorst led with 2 RBI’s and Brett Spencer, Brody von Brethorst, Jayden Mink, Brady Edwards, and Ray Calley each added 1 RBI to the team totals.