Prairie takes second at tourney

SPOKANE - The Prairie Cardinals advanced to the finals of the Best of the Northwest American Legion baseball tournament and nearly came home with the title, before finishing second following a 9-3 loss to the Club Spokane Dodgers U18 team in the championship game Sunday at Central Valley High.

Prairie scored twice in the top of the sixth to take a 3-1 lead, but the Dodgers scored eight runs in the bottom half to take control.

"We were definitely disappointed to not win that last one," Prairie coach Dustin Frank said. "We were five outs away from winning it, but we ran out of gas."

Zack Reeder doubled off the wall in the sixth and scored on a single by Darnell Metcalf. Eric Cooper followed with an RBI double off the wall to make it 3-1.

Still, the Cardinals had reason to feel good for their showing in the 15-team tourney.

"I'm definitely proud of the kids; we got our hacks in, and we played real well," Frank said.

Earlier, Prairie beat Yard Academy of Portland 3-2 in the semifinals at CV. Tyler Shaffer's RBI single scored Nathan Collier in the bottom of the sixth for Prairie to snap a 2-all tie. Yard had runners on first and third with two out in the seventh, but Reeder came on in relief and struck out the next batter to end it.

Prairie (12-8) plays host to Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday in a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Post Falls High. The Cardinals' doubleheader at Cranbrook, British Columbia today was canceled because of a lack of players on the Bandits.

The Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen lost 7-2 in the semifinals to the Club Spokane Dodgers U18 team at Central Valley.

Travis Key's three-run double triggered a seven-run fourth for the Dodgers.

Nick Nyquist doubled and scored on an error in the sixth for Coeur d'Alene, and Pete Hoffman's RBI groundout scored Brett Robbins, who had singled.

"We had our opportunities, we had runners on base almost every inning, but they turned double plays in the first and second," Coeur d'Alene coach Lloyd Duman said. "They were getting out of innings, and we didn't hit as well as we had the last two games."

Coeur d'Alene travels to Prairie for a doubleheader Tuesday.

Coeur d'Alene 000 001 1 - 2 8 2

Dodgers 000 700 x - 7 6 2

Mark Nuttleman, Sean Sutton (4), Nick Nyquist (6) and Kolby DeHaas; N. Bettinson and Crater. W - Bettinson. L - Nuttleman (0-1).

HITS: Cd'A - Roletto, Robbins 2, N. Nyquist 2, Jacobson 2, Curtis. Dod - Bonneau, Malloner, Key, C. Bettinson 2, Crater. 2B - N. Nyquist, Jacobson, Key, Crater.

Lakers 10-8

Colville No. 1 7-7

COEUR d’ALENE — Ron Schmidt’s two-run double in the top of the seventh rallied the Coeur d’Alene Lakers to an 8-7 victory over Colville No. 1 and a sweep in Spokane Junior Northern “A” League play at Lake City High.

Schmidt’s hit erased a 7-6 deficit. Colville loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Lakers left fielder Trever Brown caught a fly ball and threw the runner out at the plate — catcher Jake Johnson making a diving tag for the out — to end the game.

Brodie Larsen went 3 for 4 with three RBIs in the first game as Coeur d’Alene won 10-7. Jarred Hall was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Coeur d’Alene (9-4, 7-2 league) plays host to Riverside on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at McEuen Field.

Lumberjacks 6-15

Colville No. 2 0-7

HAYDEN — Elliot Sparks pitched a complete game in the opener and had three hits in the second game to lead the Coeur d’Alene Lumberjacks U16 team to the sweep in Spokane Junior Northern “A” League play at Croffoot Park.

Sparks struck out eight in a five-hit shutout in the opener. Michael Hicks hit a two-run homer.

Nathaniel English and Clayton Carter had four hits each in the second game for the Lumberjacks (16-3, 13-0 league). Sparks and Connor Strand each had three hits, and Sparks, English, Carter, Dain Bradshaw and Jordan Ross each drove in two runs. Ross allowed two runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings of relief.

Coeur d’Alene plays at Mt. Spokane on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.