Senior starter Bleiz Kimbrough surrendered just two hits and struck out nine in going the five-inning distance Thursday, and junior catcher Eli DeMello went 3-for-3 with three RBIs to lead Taft High to a 15-0 victory over Elmira in the Madras Spring Break Baseball Tournament.
Kimbrough didn’t walk a batter and DeMello scored three times for the Tigers, who improved to 3-3 with the nonleague win. Class 4A Elmira of the SkyEm Conference fell to 3-2.
“We played much better today,” Taft coach Matt Hilgers said. “We scored every inning for the first time all year. We didn’t have that lapse that we have had in some of our previous games.”
DeMello and seniors Tyee Fisher and Cody Knott doubled for Taft, with Knott driving home four runs, and Fisher and Kimbrough two apiece. Junior Trenton Fisher and sophomore Ethan Thomas scored three runs each for Taft.
“We did a good job of taking advantage of some of the mistakes that the other team made,” Hilgers said. “We threw strikes, limited their opportunities and made a couple plays in the field to keep them from scoring.”
The game was abbreviated to five innings due to the state’s 10-run mercy rule. The Tigers return to action at 2 p.m. Friday.
“We need to continue to focus on playing our best and trying to reach our potential every day,” Hilgers said. “We have a game tomorrow against Crook County. We are hoping to come out with the same energy and focus tomorrow as we had today.”
Photos by Eric DeMello
Taft 15, Elmira 0 ELMIRA AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI Ayden Wolgamott 2 0 1 0 Trenton Fisher 1 3 1 1 Cj Smith 2 0 0 0 Eli DeMello 3 3 3 3 Cobyn Herbert 2 0 0 0 Cody Knott 3 2 1 4 Gavin Parker 2 0 1 0 Tyee Fisher 4 1 1 2 Bryson Estrella 2 0 0 0 Bleiz Kimbrough 3 0 1 2 Blake Wigham 2 0 0 0 Kaden Hindman 2 1 1 0 Tyler Feltz 2 0 0 0 FCO Ramos 1 1 0 0 Hunter Stockinger 0 0 0 0 Jordan Hall 3 0 0 0 Koble Peterson 1 0 0 0 Ethan Thomas 0 3 0 1 Landen Parker 2 0 0 0 Trenton Hall 0 1 0 0 TOTALS 17 0 2 0 TOTALS 20 15 8 13 ELMIRA 000 00 -- 0 TAFT 331 8x -- 15 LOB--Elmira 3, Taft 6. E--Bryson Estrella, Cj Smith. 2B--Tyee Fisher, Eli DeMello, Cody Knott. HBP--Koble Peterson, Ethan Thomas (2), Trenton Fisher. SB--Ethan Thomas, Cody Knott. ELMIRA IP H R ER BB SO HR Ayden Wolgamott (L) 1.00 0 5 5 5 2 0 Koble Peterson 2.00 4 6 5 5 1 0 Hunter Stockinger 0.33 4 4 4 0 1 0 Bryce Sawyer 0.67 0 0 0 0 0 0 TAFT Bleiz Kimbrough (W) 5.00 2 0 0 0 9 0 WP--Hunter Stockinger, Koble Peterson. SO--Cobyn Herbert (2), Tyler Feltz, Landen Parker (2), Ayden Wolgamott, Koble Peterson, Blake Wigham, Cj Smith, Tyee Fisher, Jordan Hall (3). BB--Ethan Thomas, Bleize Kimbrogh, FCO Ramos (2), Eli DeMello, Kaden Hindman (2), Trenton Fisher (2), Cody Knott.
