Owyhee stays patient at the plate, takes down Boise

BOISE — Owyhee’s patient approach at the plate was the key to their win over Boise on Friday night.

The Storm took advantage of free trips to first base, drawing 10 walks against an upstart Boise squad. Owyhee won 8-0, with all but one of their runs coming on either a walk or hit by pitch.

The Storm did their damage in the second and third innings. They loaded the bases in both with only one hit across both innings. A patient bat was all it took for Owyhee to take the lead.

“Hit what you should hit, take what you should take,” Owyhee head coach Russ Wright said. “That’s hitting. You have to be really good at that and deciphering between those two. Sometimes we were good, sometimes I thought we left a little of that to be desired, making better swing decisions.”

They led 7-0 after the third inning — three runs in the second and four in the third. The Storm sent ten batters to the plate in the fourth. Boise starting pitcher Owen Kepple issued eight walks and hit one batter in 2 ⅔ innings.

Ryder Cutlip had one hit and drew three walks with an RBI for Owyhee. He entered Friday’s game with an on-base percentage of .556, continuing to show his top-notch discipline at the plate.

“The main thing for me is to not take pitches off and to stay aggressive,” Cutlip said. “Most of the time what happens if I do that, I’ll get a pitch that I want and I’m frustrated I didn’t swing at it. I have to stay aggressive up there.”

Even as Owyhee pulled away in the first three innings, Boise had every chance to stay in the game, but couldn’t capitalize with runners on. Through the first four innings, the Brave left nine runners on base. They had as many hits in the game (5) as Owyhee did, but committed four errors to the Storm’s zero.

“The game is still the same that way,” Wright said. “It’s still a pitching and defensive game. If you have pitching and defense, you’re at least there, you’re in the deal.”

Ryan Burbank, Kaleb Doty and Gage Haws combined to throw seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts for Owyhee. Christian Zannitto had the lone RBI for the Storm in the seventh inning.

“We took walks. We swung at what we needed to swing at,” Wright said. “I would have liked to be better offensively but sometimes that’s the game. I thought on the mound, the three guys we had worked well.”

Since dropping back-to-back games against Eagle at the end of March, the Storm (14-2, 7-1) have won seven in a row. Five games remain on the Storm’s schedule, including a doubleheader with Middleton next Saturday.

“We have a lot of stuff to improve on just to make sure we win those games that we need to win,” Cutlip said. “Right now, we have to keep the ball rolling and making sure we’re on top of everything, especially at practice.”

Even with a loss in three of their last four games, Boise is experiencing their best season since 2018. In the previous five seasons, the Brave’s highest win total was 10. Already at 12-6 this season and 5-4 in conference play, they entered Friday night’s game fourth in the Southern Idaho Conference.

The top three teams in the league are starting to separate themselves from the rest of pack. Eagle (8-0) and Middleton (7-0) are undefeated in conference play with Owyhee slotting in third. Eagle and Middleton play each other next week.

The next six teams either have three or four losses in league play.