Bend's Cooper Simmonds fields a ground ball to make a play at first during the second inning against Redmond at Bend during a game in 2018. This past Saturday, Simmonds hit a two-run home run to help Bend come from behind to defeat Sprague 5-4 in nine innings (Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photo, file)

Kevin Cooper was not upset with his team’s effort Thursday. Something, however, was off. And the Bend High coach set out to set things right.

As the Lava Bears came off the field to head into the bottom of the fourth inning, Cooper spent a lengthy amount of time inspiring his squad. The Class 5A No. 8-ranked Bears were clinging to a one-run lead against Redmond High, yet Cooper sensed a lack of energy. After the coach’s chat, Bend was reinvigorated.

In that fourth inning, Kyle Reed laced a two-run triple down the right-field line to extend the Lava Bears’ lead to three runs. Tysen Scott added an RBI double in the fifth, and Austin Jones teed off for a solo home run to left field, sending Bend to an 8-3 Intermountain Conference baseball win.

“We needed to get louder and hyped and pick each other up more,” Reed said of what changed in the fourth inning. “We had to focus more just on hitting the ball, squaring it up and keeping it out of the air.”

Bend (7-2 IMC, 11-6 overall) seemed on the verge of sprinting away to a win after a strong first inning. Reed led off with a hit and Cooper Simmonds followed with an RBI double to right-center field. Marshall Davis reached on a single, and both he and Simmonds scored on back-to-back grounders to give the Lava Bears a 3-0 lead.

The Panthers (2-7, 6-12) cut into their deficit in the third inning as singles by Rhett Haigh and Austin Carter sandwiched a Bend error to load the bases with one out. Colt Folston then ripped a two-run single to bring Redmond back to within 3-2.

An inning later, Cooper sensed his team needed a pep talk.

“It just felt dead in the dugout,” said Cooper, whose team will visit Redmond on Friday to complete a four-games-in-as-many-days series against the Panthers. “It’s a hard series playing somebody four times with no practices in between and kids have school to worry about. They’ve got all these things, but we just had to remind them how much they love baseball and don’t do that to the game. They responded well.”

Bend responded with two runs in the fourth and one run in each of the next two innings.

“It definitely gave our pitcher some more relief, took some stress off him,” Reed said. “It swung the momentum back in our favor and made people more relaxed at the plate.”

And with starter David Daniels pitching steadily on the mound en route to a complete game, the Lava Bears secured their ninth straight win over Redmond dating back to 2016.

“I look at him, and he’s a future coach,” Cooper said of Daniels, who had only three strikeouts but maneuvered around several jams to keep Bend in control. “He gets the game. … David is a cerebral kid, he knows the game really well, and he’s a future coach. I think that’s one of the best compliments I can give anybody. He just knows how to play the game right, he’s treated the game right, and baseball’s starting to treat him pretty dang well. That kid pumped us up.”

Davis went 3-for-3 for Bend, Scott had two hits and three RBIs, and Reed added two hits and two RBIs.

Carter, Folston, Haigh and Cooper Browning each had two hits for Redmond, which dropped its seventh straight game. But Panthers coach Doug Taylor saw signs of improvement after his team dropped the first two games to Bend by a combined score of 24-6. On Thursday, for example, Redmond was squaring up pitches well, though many of the Panthers’ line drives were hit right at the Bend defense.

“I think it’s a little frustrating for the kids,” Taylor said. “But it is a good feeling for us coaches, knowing that we hit the ball hard but just right to guys. Hey, that’s baseball, but it is a good sign. These kids just have to stick with it and stick with our approaches and make small adjustments here and there. We’ll be fine.”

While Bend is still jockeying with Summit (10-2 IMC) for the conference lead with seven IMC games left on the Bears’ regular-season schedule, the Panthers are in a close race with Mountain View (3-6 IMC) and Ridgeview (2-7 IMC) for third place, which earns the final postseason spot out of the conference.

“Our goal is to play postseason baseball,” Taylor said. “We’re in the hunt for that third spot. If we take care of business and play how we’re capable of playing, that’s all that matters.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0307, glucas@bendbulletin.com