Madison beats Highland behind sophomore Alex Ramos, seals first season series win over Highland in 8 years
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POCATELLO — The Madison Bobcats clinched their first regular season series victory over the Highland Rams since the 2016-17 season, with a 5-4 win at Highland High School’s Westmark Field Thursday.
After splitting a doubleheader with the Rams (5-8) at home Wednesday, Madison (9-5) seized control of the 6A High Country Conference with a 2-1 series win over a Highland team that has won the conference the last two season.
“Traditionally, Highland’s dominated this conference for a very, very long time,” head coach Jason Phillips said after the game. “So, for us to take the series during the regular season is awesome. It’s a big confidence-builder, a big stepping stone for us.”
The Bobcats, who started sophomore Sam Berry, fell behind in the first inning, when Highland starter, senior Lana Alvarico, followed a perfect top half with a single, stolen base and run scored in the bottom.
Madison answered with a pair of runs in the second, initiated on a leadoff walk to Teagan Mortensen. But Highland pulled back ahead with a three-run third.
Phillips said, his team did a good job “not riding the emotional rollercoaster” — not allowing a single pitch, at-bat or inning affect their emotions too much in either direction.
Instead, he said, they focused on playing clean defensively, pounding the strike zone — Berry and reliever Alex Ramos issued just three walks — and getting timely hits.
Staying off the emotional rollercoaster has been difficult for the Bobcats, who are playing without former infielder and pitcher Eliah Gordo, who died last August, before his senior season.
Phillips called the question of hot to play for Gordo while not allowing the emotion of doing so affect their play “the million-dollar question,” adding that it has been a very emotional eight months for the entire ball club.
“Off the field, we still talk a lot about him, and obviously we miss him,” the coach said. “But I think we do a good job of focusing, once we get on the diamond, and playing. We’re always thinking about him.”
Many Madison players sport wristbands marked with Gordo’s initials and number 13.
Alvarico looked to have done his job, walking off the mound with a 4-3 lead after the fourth inning despite a tumultuous start to the frame.
The right-hander gave up a double to Payton Kostial, then a single to Josh Haslem. And Haslem, representing the tying run, advanced to third on the throw home attempting, unsuccessfully, to nab Kostial.
Alvarico then walked Robert Morales, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on the corners. But Morales was caught stealing, and Alvarico struck the next two Madison hitters out to strand Haslem at third.
Alvarico returned to the mound in the fifth, and faced just two hitters.
Madison lead-off man Kai Benfield started the inning with a single, then Ramos, who played shortstop behind Berry before replacing him on the mound to start the fourth, went deep to left field giving the Bobcats the lead on his third homer of the season.
“Alex has been hitting the weight room, and it shows,” Phillips said.
The sophomore, who pitched the final four innings for Madison and allowed just one base runner — on a two-out fourth-inning walk — said there is no feeling like crushing the ball the way he did Thursday.
“There’s nothing better than that,” he said. “It’s probably the best feeling you could ever have in life. It feels great.”
Porter Burrows replaced Alvarico on the mound, and kept Madison off the scoreboard the rest of the way. But his offense could not figure out Ramos, who was tagged with the loss in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader and rebounded to earn the win Thursday.
Ramos struck out two in his four hitless innings of work, to go with a 2-for-3 day at the dish with a single, a homer, two RBIs and a walk.
With their 2-1 series win over the Rams, Madison moves to 4-2 in conference play with a three-game set against conference foe Thunder Ridge awaiting next week.
Highland, 1-2 in-conference, have two games with conference rival Rigby and another with crosstown rival Century next week.
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