Blackfoot, Madison baseball teams honor former Bobcat Eliah Gordo, 8 months after his death

REXBURG — As is usually the case when dealing with the death of a child, Eliah Gordo’s passing last August left a massive hole in his family. But this death also left a sizable vacancy in the eastern Idaho baseball community.

Gordo spent three seasons as part of the Madison High School varsity baseball team — playing and pitching on the varsity squad since his freshman year. He also played fall ball in Blackfoot, where Kenny Dahle, an assistant coach at Blackfoot High School, coached him.

When he took his own life on Aug. 15, 2024, Dahle, his stepson Nash Randall, and some of the other Blackfoot players decided they wanted to honor their friend and teammate.

“I just, kinda, helped navigate that with the boys,” Dahle said. “Then, as we got into the season, we realized that we played at Madison — it was their first home game (of the season), so we thought it would be cool to wear jerseys for (Gordo) and have his mom and his family there.”

When the Broncos played the Bobcats at Madison on Wednesday, the entire Blackfoot teams left their jerseys hanging in their lockers, donning instead white Blackfoot jerseys with “Gordo” and Eliah’s No. 13 on the back. The jerseys also had a special phrase printed on them, something Eliah’s family would yell to him when pitching: “Give ‘Em The Salsa.”

Randall explained that the jerseys were part of a celebration of Eliah’s life, but the Gordo family, which was invited to the game by the Blackfoot and Madison coaching staffs, was not privy to them.

Brandee Gordo, Eliah’s mother, said she was in the stands when the Blackfoot team turned to face the field for the National Anthem. She saw her last name and son’s number on every Bronco’s back.

“We didn’t know that that was going to happen, and it was amazing,” she said.

Brandee told EastIdahoSports.com that throughout the game, a hawk circled the field. Eliah’s family saw it as his spirit watching the game—and perhaps talking a little smack to his teammates and friends on both sides.

“It was like he was watching over them,” Brandee said.

After the game, Brandee went down to the field to thank Blackfoot for its tribute. Before she could get there, though, every player from both teams formed a single-file line and, one at a time, gave her and her son a hug.

“I walked away feeling more at peace than I have in a long time,” Brandee said, fighting back tears.

The jerseys

Kenny explained that when he decided to wear the jerseys, he contacted a local clothing and printing shop, The Fringed Pineapple, in Shelley. He explained to the company’s owner what the team was planning, what they needed, and why.

Kenny continued, the company would not accept payment for the jerseys, offering instead to donate them as a way of honoring Eliah.

Randall, who has switched his jersey number from 17 to 13 for the entire season and said he is dedicating his performance this season to his friend, said it was emotional pulling that jersey on — and playing for Eliah.

He plans to hang the jersey as a memorial.

Along with the jerseys, Kenny had a ball engraved with “Gordo 13” and “Give ‘Em The Salsa.” After the game, the Blackfoot team gave Brandee the ball and her own jersey.

The game

Kenny explained that the energy in the Blackfoot dugout was heavy.

“(Gordo’s family) actually had (Gordo’s) vigil at that field, and that was the first time that all of us had been back there since that day,” he said. “So it was a really highly emotional game for both sides.”

Randall, who pitched in the game, told his coaches that he feared he was on the verge of a panic attack trying to keep his emotions in check on the mound.

When asked what it felt like to play on a team he would normally expect to include a dear friend but not have him on the other side of the diamond, Randall said it was “a shock.”

“It’s just, kind of, a shock, not seeing him on the baseball field,” he said.

Kenny chimed in, explaining that there is still a shock factor involved for the kids and adults.

“The first time we saw Madison play was this spring, down in St. George,” he recalled. “As me and my son (Nash) were walking down to the park — they actually have a kid that looks similar to Eliah, and when we saw him we both were like, ‘Hey, there’s Eliah. No, that’s not Eliah.’ It was a taken aback moment.”

Tied, the game went into extra innings. Brandee was chatting with Hailey Dahle — Kenny’s wife and Randall’s mother — who said Eliah would not let his Bobcats lose. And sure enough, Madison won the game on a ninth-inning walk-off hit from senior Tegan Mortensen, one of Eliah’s best friends on the team.

Having Madison win 13-12 in the ninth inning is “just like Eliah would have wanted it,” Hailey said. Brandee agreed.

Eliah

The 17-year-old loved baseball, his mom explained, but even more than that, he loved to connect with people.

“Eliah was the type of kid that everybody felt like his best friend,” Brandee said. “When we would go to tournaments, they would play against these teams. Then the next game, that team was at the fence cheering for Eliah. He was everybody’s favorite person in the room.”

Kenny described him as having a “million-dollar smile” and the ability to make everyone feel like he was their best friend. He was “absolutely a special baseball talent” who “treated people so awesome.”

Randall said while Eliah was very competitive, he did not let that get in the way of meeting people and making friends — offering a story to paint that picture.

Eliah and Randall were playing at Baseball Northwest — a youth baseball training program — last summer. They were teammates with Randall on the mound and Eliah playing infield behind him, Randall recalled, when one of the opposing players hit a triple off Randall.

“I’m over there, and I’m pissed because this kid just it a triple off of me, and Eliah’s over there, and he’s just laughing with him — just being the friendliest kid to him and telling him, ‘Good job,'” Randall said.

His legacy

“Baseball was (Eliah’s) No. 1 love,” Brandee said. … “The baseball teams were like his second family.”

And the love coming from those second families has offered the Gordo family a great deal of peace. Things like Madison penciling her son into the top of lineup for the bottom of the first against Blackfoot, and willingly taking an out in the first for batting out of order as a tribute to Eliah, means a great deal to the Gordos.

The day after Blackfoot paid its homage to Eliah, Madison went to Rigby for a rivalry matchup with the Trojans. Before the game, Rigby observed a moment of silence. Though she wasn’t there for the game, Brandee received videos from parents who were, and was, again, touched.

“I think, when you’re in this position that we’re in, you look for any piece of comfort you can get. And the places we’re getting them are overwhelming,” she said. “Rigby’s our rival, and they did that for my son.”

While she was not at that game, Brandee and her family still plan to attend Madison games. They are part of that extended family, and she sees the boys her son spent more than a decade playing alongside as her children as well.

“I love those boys like they’re my own kids. I love those boys, and I’ve watched them play since they were little,” she said. … “We will do anything for those boys.”

The Gordos, who hosted the baseball team for dinner the night before its first game of the season, said they are keeping their doors open to the boys — should they need someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on, or just a snack.

Eliah’s younger brother Isaiah is 14 and will try out for the Madison varsity team next year. Brandee hopes Eliah’s presence will last through Isaiah’s high school career at Madison and beyond.

A message from the Gordos

While he was a light for so many others, with his million-dollar smile and joy for the game he loved, Eliah never fully understood how loved he was himself due to some mental health issues, Brandee said.

She hopes that among the impressions her boy leaves on the community is that you can never understand what pain your neighbor is feeling, what issues they are facing, and what battles they are fighting.

She said: “I know that there is a fine line between glorifying the way that my son died and honoring his life, and I’m just glad that these teenage boys have found a way to honor him because the way he died shouldn’t define the 17 years that he lived.”

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