When first-year Prairie Cardinal “AA” American Legion baseball coach Dustin Frank took the job, he had the weekend of the state tournament circled on his calendar with great anticipation.

And it had nothing to do with baseball.

Frank will lead Prairie into the Class AA Area A (district) tournament at Post Falls High starting on Thursday.

But it may be his date with his fiancée, Katie Schlotthauer, on Saturday, Aug. 1 at

StoneRidge Golf Club in Blanchard that is making him a little nervous right now.

Should the Cardinals qualify for state, Prairie could be playing in Boise on the date of Frank and Schlotthauer’s wedding.

“I love baseball, but I’ve got to have my priorities,” Frank said. “I feel bad doing it, but family will always come before sports. There will be plenty of state tournaments for us down the road.”

Frank, 26, graduated from Lakeland High in 2002, and played for Prairie in 2002 and 2003. He moved on to Whitworth University, where he played from 2003-07 under coach Keith Ward. He joined the coaching staff at Post Falls High three years ago, coaching JV baseball, as well as wrestling and football.

“I wanted to go into education after I got done playing in college,” Frank said. “I really just wanted to go anywhere where I could be involved with that.”

Brian Graves, who coached Frank at Lakeland High, said Frank was one of the school’s top players in his four years as a Hawk.

“He had a very natural swing,” Graves said. “He was all-around a good offensive player. He doesn’t like to lose at anything. If something doesn’t go right, he’ll work his tail off to get better the next time.”

“I had a great experience playing at Lakeland,” Frank said. “They’ve always treated me well and I’m always going to root for Lakeland, except when I’m coaching against them.”

Graves added with a small coaching staff at Lakeland, Frank sometimes jumped in to help the younger players work on their skills.

“He was a great team kid,” Graves said. “In the dugout, he was great to be around. He was definitely our leader. He always came to the park and worked hard. He’d always hound me about pitching and when we needed an arm, Dustin went in and competed. That kid wanted to do anything he could to help us win.”

“They couldn’t have chosen a better kid to coach that program,” said Graves, who after leaving Lakeland coached baseball at Kuna High from 2004-08 before accepting an administrative position at Kuna Middle School. “I’m sure he’ll do a great job.”

Prairie draws players from Post Falls, Lakeland and Timberlake high schools.

When Frank played at Prairie, the Cardinals qualified for state twice.

“There’s definitely some pride in coming back to coach here,” Frank said. “We’d earned the respect of the community when I was a player. In the past couple years, we’ve lost a little bit of that. This is a chance to bring what I had as a player back. Coming back to coach was a chance I couldn’t pass up.”

Post Falls American Legion Post No. 143 commander John Dunlap was part of the hiring process, in which Frank was selected from a field of three candidates to interview for the job.

“I’d seen him as a high school coach and he’d played ball for us,” Dunlap said. “He’s young and full of energy, which is exactly what the program needs.”

Frank is assisted by fellow Lakeland alum Kyle Reese and former Coeur d’Alene High Viking Alex Reyes, each of whom played at the college level.

“Kyle had a lot of success as a pitcher in high school before he had an arm injury and it cut short his career,” Frank said. “Alex’s main focus is hitting. They’ve both been great additions and really help bring things together. I’d definitely like to keep this together. I figured if I surround myself with good things and it will make me a better person,”

Frank will enter his fourth year as the JV baseball coach at Post Falls this year.

“Personally, as a coach, I expect the same out of each player,” Frank said. “We’re trying to bring them up and hold them to some pretty high expectations and build some success.”

When it comes to coaching at the varsity level, Frank still feels he’s got some things to learn.

“I had a conversation with my fiancée before taking the job,” Frank said. “I could see myself being a varsity coach somewhere at some point. Right now, I feel I need to get as much experience as I can.”

His coaching style was one that wasn’t learned at Whitworth or his days at Lakeland. Instead, he picked up in watching other teams play.

“It’s a different style than I played for,” Frank said. “It’s just about getting the kids to buy into it. So far the kids have bought into it.”

Ward added it’s not much of a surprise to see Frank get into coaching baseball.

“Anyone that plays at the Division III level is there because of the love of the game,” Ward said. “All of them are so competitive, it’s no wonder Dustin ended up going into coaching.”

No athletic scholarships are awarded at Whitworth.

“About 80 percent of the kids are there for the love of the game,” Ward said. “He was such a smart kid, athletic and competitive,” Ward said. “It’s a natural thing for them to go into coaching.”

“It doesn’t surprise me a bit to hear that Dustin is doing well. It doesn’t matter if he’s teaching math or showing a player how to play defense. None of it surprises me a bit.”

Dunlap echoed Ward’s comments.

“Give him a couple of years,” Dunlap said. “We’ll have one of the best programs in the area.”

Former Whitworth players make up three of the five coaches in the North Idaho “AA” League. Kyle Krustangel just finished his junior season at Whitworth and is the coach of the Rocky Mountain Bandits of Cranbrook, British Columbia. Trail coach Collin Gibbs is also a former Pirate, playing at the school in 2007-08.

“Those with a background in wrestling are your most competitive guys,” Ward said. “They flat out go 1-on-1 in the gym together all the time. It’s a typical Whitworth story. A kid goes to school because he’s a great student and athlete. A lot of guys that come here could play at the Division I level. I’m sure whatever he does, he’ll be successful because he’s smart and competitive.”

Dunlap added that his work with the players off the field that has also impressed this season.

“When I hired him, I was looking for someone energetic,” Dunlap said. “He’s gotten along really well with the kids.”

Prairie brings a (xx-xx) record into the tournament, starting Thursday at Post Falls High.

“It’s been tough to get the kids to continue to buy into the system with the way we’ve been playing,” Frank said. “We’ve tried to stay positive and look at it as a challenge. I don’t expect the kids to be perfect — that’s why there’s a error category in baseball. But as long as we control what we can — hustling on and off the field, do what they can do and support the team and push each other hard, hopefully they buy into it at the end of the season.”

Lewis-Clark enters the tournament as the top seed, with the top two teams advancing to the state tournament in Boise July 28-Aug. 1. The Twins, who went undefeated in North Idaho League play, are heavy favorites, with Coeur d’Alene, Trail and Prairie expected to be in the mix for the second berth to state.

“We’ve competed with Lewis-Clark this season,” Frank said. “We took them to 11 innings in the Missoula tournament. They’re a good team and we’ll have to play a perfect game, but we can play with them. It’s going to be a dogfight between us for that other spot. It depends on who wants it more. Coeur d’Alene is still a deadly team. If they come to play — they can play with anyone. Our guys flat out want it.”

Frank feels that his team has a shot, with the team getting healthier as the tournament begins with pitchers Nik Berger and Bryson Smith expected fully healthy from injury by Thursday.

“We’ve got an outside shot and will be healthy for the first time in a while,” Frank said.

Frank has known all along if Prairie qualified for state, his wedding date could present an issue.

“We had the date set long before I even took the job here,” Frank said. “It’s unfortunate, but I’ve got all the confidence in my assistants. You’ve got to do what you need to do. It’s a good problem to have. The kids deserve to go to state and we’ll do the best we can to get them there.”

AA Area A

tournament

At Post Falls High

Thursday, July 22

Game 1 — No. 4 Trail (18-21) vs. No. 5 Cranbrook (8-30), 1:30 p.m.

Game 2 — No. 2 Coeur d’Alene (19-25) vs. No. 3 Prairie (13-25), 5 p.m.

Friday, July 23

Game 4 — Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1:30 p.m.

Game 3 — No. 1 Lewiston (31-6) vs. Winner Game 1, 5 p.m.

Saturday, July 24

Game 5 — Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 10 a.m.

Game 6 — Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 1:30 p.m.

Game 7 — Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5, 5 p.m.

Sunday, July 25

Game 8 — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7, noon (championship).

Game 9 — Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 8, 3:30 p.m. (if necessary).