One took the direct route south to Lewis-Clark State College; the other took a more roundabout path, through south-central Washington and south-central Idaho.

One got thrown into the college baseball fire right away; the other had to pay his dues for a couple of years.

But here they are, four years later, Trent Bridges and Zach Clanton, former Lake City High stars, both in pivotal roles as seniors on the Warrior baseball team.

Bridges is the starting shortstop, Clanton a relief pitcher for No. 6 seeded Lewis-Clark State (41-12), which plays No. 3 seed Oklahoma City (47-10) tonight at 7 in the first round of the NAIA World Series at Harris Field in Lewiston.

The Warriors have won 16 World Series titles in their storied history. Bridges and Clanton are looking to win their first as members of the L-C State baseball program.

"To be completely honest, when I signed my letter of intent to come here, I came in with the intentions of trying to win four," said Clanton, a sidearming right-hander who is 4-0 with a 4.78 ERA this season, with two saves in 19 appearances. "And right now, me and Trent are 0 for 3. We haven't gotten past the third game of the tournament. It's definitely a lot harder than people think."

They admit to enduring some playful razzing from former teammates who have won NAIA World Series titles. "I was hoping for a handful (of titles), Bridges said.

Each of the past three seasons, LCSC has won its first World Series game, then dropped the next two.

"Honestly, I've felt more comfortable going into this one than I've felt the last three years," said Bridges, who leads the Warriors with a .396 batting average, with 4 homers and 32 RBIs. "I like our squad, and I like what we're bringing to the table, with the work we've been putting in."

THE TWO have played together since age 10, when they made the same Little League Majors team. They played on the Coeur d'Alene Little League team which came within one victory of reaching the Little League World Series.

As juniors in high school, they helped Lake City win the state 5A baseball title. The next year, they played on the Timberwolves' state runner-up squad.

And while off the field they had other, closer, friends, on the field they shared a sort of kindred spirit.

"When it came to baseball and being on the field, we always got along so much better than everybody else, because we held each other to a higher standard," Clanton said. "We knew how to push each other."

Both were coached by Cory Bridges, Trent's dad, from Little League through high school. When Cory was the Lake City High coach, Trent remembers being able to take grounders with the high school teams - even when he was way younger than they were - and having access to the hitting cages at the school whenever he wanted.

"Having the availability of 24/7 coaching is huge," Trent said. "When they would do a hitting analysis on ESPN, he would call me into the living room ... he notices things from me that other people don't notice."

Which is all good - unless the game didn't go well.

"That's why it was great getting my driver's license," Trent recalled. "After a bad day, I had 15 minutes to myself before getting chewed out again."

Clanton likes to tell people that Cory Bridges is his second dad. If Clanton brought home a bad report card, his father, John, would hand it over to Cory, and Cory would talk to Zach about it, as John figured if his son heard about it from someone else - like a baseball coach - the lesson would stick more.

"My junior year I was getting recruited by Washington State," Clanton recalled. "I got a bad report card in the mail and my dad gave it to Cory, and Cory ripped my butt. He said 'Yesterday you're pitching in front of the Washington State coach and the next day you're bringing home a report card with a horrible GPA ... '"

TRENT BRIDGES grew up always wanting to play at Lewis-Clark State, so when the Warriors offered a scholarship while he was at Lake City, the decision was a no-brainer.

But Clanton had originally committed to Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash. - WSU had backed off recruiting him because of his grades. But by the time the high school state tournament rolled around his senior year, CBC had gone through a coaching change, and Clanton started considering other schools.

He pitched against Twin Falls at the state tournament, where he was noticed by Boomer Walker, the legendary College of Southern Idaho coach. Walker offered him a scholarship, and Clanton committed there.

But at the American Legion district tournament in Lewiston that summer, L-C State pitching coach Gus Knickrehm saw him pitch, and after the state tournament the following week, offered him a scholarship.

Sorry, CSI.

"It was one of those things where Trent always said we were going to end up there together," Clanton said. "He signed before the season, and he said 'I think you're going to end up at L-C' and I was like, 'I don't know, they haven't said a word to me ... '"

A couple hours after Clanton committed to L-C State, he got a text message from Bridges.

"Told you so," it read.

CLANTON MADE his college debut in his first game as a freshman - coming on in relief in the second inning and pitching six innings. Two of LCSC's top pitchers were sidelined with Tommy John surgery that year, and Clanton wound up throwing 45 1/3 innings - the most he's thrown in a season at L-C State.

He'd hoped to eventually become a starting pitcher, but he had so much success in the bullpen - he tied for the team lead as a freshman with 6 wins - as a sophomore, he was ticketed as the closer. As a junior, Clanton struggled through back injuries and was limited to 16 1/3 innings. This year, he's been a late-inning setup guy and occasional closer.

Bridges played second base his first two years at L-C State under legendary coach Ed Cheff, but with a couple of talented veteran middle infielders in front of him, playing time was scarce. Last year, Gary Picone took over as coach, and Bridges was a regular at third base, hitting .392 with 4 homers and 44 RBIs, and a team-high 18 doubles. This year, he started the season at third base, then because of injuries moved to shortstop, where he's played most of his life and where "it's in my blood to play short."

"It was definitely a reality check," Bridges said of the first two seasons in Lewiston, "going from feeling like you're something special to being a nobody right off the bat. It's a humbling experience ... but I also know it's a four-year program, you put in your time and you're meant to shine your junior and senior year because you've put in the time in 'training camp.' It's like the junior college of L-C your first two years."

Clanton has pitched in four NAIA World Series games, all in his first two seasons at L-C State. His first appearance was in the 2009 opener vs. Oklahoma City, where he threw a couple scoreless innings. He did not appear in last year's Series.

Bridges appeared in the Series as a freshman as a pinch runner, and got a few at-bats the following year. He stared all three games at third in last year's tournament.

Both have had their feisty moments at L-C State.

You may recall Bridges causing a dust-up in last year's game vs. Oklahoma City when he inadvertantly struck one of the opposing infielders in the face while trying to get out of a rundown. And Clanton riled up the Whitworth Pirates earlier this season when he said something to himself after a strikeout - something the Pirates took as being directed toward them.

Bridges is on track to graduate this fall with a degree in sports administration and coaching. Clanton is on track to graduate next spring with a degree in kinesiology.

Both have attracted some interest from scouts - and would definitely give pro ball a try if given the opportunity - but for the most part are preparing for life after baseball. Clanton plans to be an assistant coach this summer with the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen - the team he and Bridges played Legion ball with.

"My lesson to other kids is, put in your time, work hard and it'll all pay off in the end," Bridges said.

NAIA World Series

At Harris Field, Lewiston

First-round pairings

No. 7 Point Park, Pa. (51-9) vs. No. 10 College of Idaho (41-19), 9 a.m.

No. 8 South Carolina Beaufort (40-14) vs. No. 9 Rogers State, Okla. (45-14), noon

No. 4 Tennessee Wesleyan (48-11) vs. No. 5 Embry-Riddle, Fla. (43-16), 3 p.m.

No. 3 Oklahoma City (47-10) vs. No. 6 Lewis-Clark State (41-12), 7 p.m.

No. 1 LSU Shreveport, La. (51-4) and No. 2 Lee, Tenn. (54-9-1) get 1st-round byes

Information / www.naiaworldseries.com