Ninety feet away.

That was how far Moscow baseball was from achieving something it hadn’t done in 40 years. That was how far the Bears were from downing the Bishop Kelly Knights in the Idaho Class 4A state championship game on Saturday at Vallivue High School in Caldwell, Idaho.

Jack Driskill was on third base and Connor Isakson, who had just brought in the game-tying run, was on second. Tommy Holt, who turned 18 years old on Saturday, gifted himself a grounder to the Knights’ third baseman Dean Herkenrath. Herkenrath bobbled the ball and shorted the throw to first base. Seeing the error, Driskill sprinted all 90 feet and crossed home plate with his arm raised to give Moscow a 7-6 win and its first state baseball championship since 1984.

The walk-off set off cheers from the well-traveled Moscow fans and instigated a not-too-shabby dogpile next to first base.

“I don’t even know if I expected it to feel that good,” Moscow coach Griffin Rod said. “I’m just so happy for them. The boys, they’re emotional. (There are) tears of joy. They spoke it to existence from Day 1 and it happened. You don’t get a lot of opportunities to accomplish such big goals and go down in history forever in our own little piece of the world. I feel so happy for everyone and it still feels a little bit surreal.”

The Bears’ victory capped off a 13-game winning streak and a run that, fittingly, came to a successful end against one of Idaho’s blueblood high school baseball programs.

For the six innings prior, the two sides put up an effort fitting of a state championship game.

Moscow comes out swinging

The Idahosports.com broadcast called Moscow the most impressive offensive team during State, and it’s not hard to see why.

The Bears (20-7) went into Saturday averaging seven runs per game in two state tournament games. They didn’t slow down against Bishop Kelly.

Driskill hit a two-RBI single and Isakson brought in another score with a single of his own in the bottom of the first. Levi Anderson hit an RBI sacrifice fly and Jamison Green was walked with the bases loaded in the second and third innings, respectively. At the end of the third, the Bears were up 5-1.

“We respect who (Bishop Kelly) are and all the things,” Rod said. “We respect every team we play. But we feel like we were in just as good a situation as anybody to win this game pitching-wise and with the way we were hitting.”

The Knights (18-10) are no strangers to high-pressure moments or title games, and they weren’t going to make it easy for Moscow.

Bishop Kelly moves pieces in place

Bishop Kelly won the state championship in 2022 but fell last season to the eventual champions, Pocatello. For the Knights to possibly win their second championship in three years, they had to completely shift momentum and make up a four-run difference.

They did exactly that.

In the fourth inning, Bishop Kelly’s Joe Stroschein got on second base due to one of Moscow’s four errors in the game. The Knights went deep into their bag of tricks and uncorked three straight bunt singles. The second bunt loaded the bases and the third brought in a run. Bishop Kelly scored twice more on another Bears’ miscue, and Cooper Cammann capped off the scoring with an RBI sac fly. When all was said and done, the score went from a 5-1 Moscow lead to a 5-5 tie after four innings.

If offense was the name of the game during the early goings, defense and pitching took center stage in the latter part of the game.

Isakson wins late pitching duel

Both teams’ pitching staffs were in pretty good shape going into the title game. When it came time to play the last two innings, the two squads representing the opposite regions of the state were on their third, and final, hurlers.

The growth of Moscow’s pitchers has been a big part of its success this season. It was only fitting that the game was rested in the hands of those on the mound.

Isakson, in addition to leading the Bears’ battery with two hits and two RBI, earned the win as Moscow’s final pitcher. He let up one run and struck out three batters in two innings of work. He was named Idahosports.com’s player of the game for his efforts.

But the one run that Isakson gave up nearly kept the state championship banner in southern Idaho.

Herkenrath scored on a Bears error, giving the Knights three runs on two Moscow miscues. But Isakson got out of a potential jam and Bishop Kelly left two runners stranded. The Knights also had a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.

The Bears faced a crystal-clear situation: tie the game and send it to extra innings, walk it off or lose.

Moscow loaded the bases with no outs, which set up Isakson’s game-tying hit and Holt’s title-winning at-bat.

“I want to say it’s unbelievable but, honestly, I believe it,” Rod said. “We just have pride in ourselves at not getting too high, not getting too low and just being who we are. We truly believe good things will happen to good people if you work hard at it. I wasn’t really concerned who was going to be in the other dugout because all we’ve done all year is just worry about us and playing our baseball. And that’s exactly what the boys did.”

Program-defining win

Not only was the Bears’ win on Saturday their first baseball state title in four decades, it was also the first championship for the school in any sport since 2011 (girls golf).

Moscow’s journey to this point was one that the team expected of itself.

The Bears made it to the state tourney in 2023 but went 0-2. This year, they believed they were more than capable of doing something great. And they did.

When someone is trying to build a team for long-term success, program-defining wins are a big step in accomplishing that feat. Proof that the coaching, the practices and the hours put in are worth it.

“I think that, I was told somewhere along the way, that it takes a good five years to actually build a program,” Rod said. “And I think I’m running a couple years late. But to keep raising the bar allows us to push the kids in the right direction a little bit harder — it just had to be step-by-step. I didn’t plan it out that way. ... But I think hopefully this sets an expectation that we’re here to play baseball and nothing else and continue to grow the program. We lose a big part of the team with some seniors but we also have a great core of juniors that are coming in. And I think at some point that the culture of the program takes care of itself.”

The Palouse is a talented area for baseball with several American Legion and travel ball teams during the summer. Moscow’s state title win is the first in many years for a school that’s been starved for success at the state level. It could also be the beginning of a new standard of excellence for Bears baseball.

Bishop Kelly 100 400 1—6 7 3

Moscow 311 000 2—7 5 4

Jamison Smith, Luca Quilici (2), Jamison LaMott-Slasser (4) and Gianni Caltagirone; Keaton Clark, Ethan McLaughlin (4), Connor Isakson (6) and Tyson Izzo. W—Isakson; L—LaMott-Slasser.

Bishop Kelly hits — Dean Herkenrath, Cooper Cammann, Zach Wright, Nathan Rapp, Caltagirone, Alex Sullivan.

Moscow hits — Isakson 2, Izzo, Levi Anderson, Jack Driskill.

Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.