Zach Clanton has been patiently waiting all year for his chance to be a baseball coach.

Due to Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen coach Lloyd Duman being out of the area taking classes toward a PhD program, and assistant coach Cory Bridges unable to attend due to his son's wedding - it will be Clanton, a former Lumbermen player - that will be coaching the team at the state AA tournament, which begins today at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian.

"I'm the head honcho for the week," Clanton said. "It's cool and definitely going to be a new experience. It's definitely what I want to be eventually. We (coaches) knew this was coming all summer, and I'm excited for it. I finally get a chance to see how I can handle it."

Clanton last played for the Lums in 2008, and is in his second season as the team's pitching coach. He was a four-year pitcher at Lewis-Clark State, going 4-0 with two saves in 19 appearances as a senior in 2012.

Kevin Lucero, who was the pitching coach of the single-A Coeur d'Alene Loggers this year, will be Clanton's assistant this week.

"It was a lot of last minute scrambling," Clanton said. "Lloyd could be here in time, but it would be Saturday at the earliest."

AA: Coeur d'Alene (16-28) will face the Boise Seminoles in the opening game of the tournament today at 9 a.m. PDT.

Coeur d'Alene was 6-21 entering the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene Wood Bat Classic, but has won 10 of its last 17 games.

"It's definitely where we turned things on," Clanton said. "We were getting frustrated and losing games by 1 or 2 runs, with just one play here and there changing the course of the game. We started to get healthy and playing together, and that was the point we knew we could get to state."

Coeur d'Alene went 5-1 at the wood bat tournament, the only blemish a 7-1 loss to the defending state champion Idaho Falls Bandits.

"I think they just decided they wanted to go to state," Clanton said. "Some of them might not get a chance to play baseball again. It's their last go-round. Outside of playing baseball, they just like being on the road and being with their friends. Sometimes, you see teams cash it in for the summer, but we know what we're coming home to."

The Lewis-Clark Twins (24-25) advanced to state by beating the Lumbermen in the Area A (district) championship game last Saturday in Lewiston.

"We probably could have won the district title," Clanton said. "But we were more worried about setting up our pitching for state."

Getting the start for the Lums this morning will be Joe Roletto, who was an infielder and catcher at Columbia Basin College this year.

"He got a couple of appearances last year because he's a good athlete," Clanton said. "He came out this year, pitched a game against a travel club team and just pitched well, so we kept giving him some innings. He's kind of got the mentality that he's 6-foot-5 and throws 98 miles an hour."

The winner advances to the Northwest Regional tournament Aug. 8-12 in Eugene, Ore.

A: The St. Maries Savages advanced to their second straight state tournament under seventh-year coach Jeremy Stapleton.

"We just had an up and down season," Stapleton said. "We started peaking at districts with our bats and pitching and just did it at the right time."

St. Maries (17-16) entered the eight-team district tournament as the fifth seed, but beat top-seeded Moscow and seventh-seeded Orofino to advance. They will face the Nampa Braves on Thursday at 8 a.m. PDT at Bonneville High in Idaho Falls.

"We struggled early in the season," Stapleton said. "Moscow swept us, Orofino swept us and we just had a lot of errors behind our pitching."

St. Maries, which returns seven starters from last year's team, won four of six games prior to the district tournament.

"They have a ton of experience," Stapleton said. "We've got a ton of experience on the mound, but just need to play good defense behind them."

Lewis-Clark (28-18) also advanced by winning the Area A tournament and will face the Twin Falls Hawks on Thursday at 2 p.m.

STATE AA TOURNAMENT

At Rocky Mountain High, Meridian

Times PDT

Wednesday

Game 1 - Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen (16-28) vs. Boise Seminoles, 9 a.m.

Game 2 - Idaho Falls Bandits vs. Boise Capitals, noon

Game 3 - Nampa Chiefs vs. Lewis-Clark Twins (24-25), 3 p.m.

Game 4 - Twin Falls Cowboys vs. Rocky Mountain Avalanche, 6:30

Thursday

Game 5 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9 a.m. (loser out)

Game 6 - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, noon (loser out)

Game 7 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 3 p.m.

Game 8 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 6

Friday

Game 9 - Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, noon

Game 10 - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 3 p.m.

Game 11 - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 6

Saturday

Game 12 - Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10, 3 p.m.

Game 13 - Loser Game 11 vs. Loser Game 12, 6

Sunday

Game 14 - Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 11 a.m. (championship game)

Game 15 - Loser Game 14 vs. Winner Game 14, 2 p.m. (if necessary game)

STATE A TOURNAMENT

Thursday

At Melaleuca Field

Game 1 - Pocatello Razorbacks vs. Meridian Rangers, 8 a.m.

At Bonneville High

Game 2 - Nampa Braves vs. St. Maries (17-16), 8 a.m.

Game 3 - Mountain View Toros vs. Idaho Falls Bees, 11

Game 4 - Lewis-Clark Cubs (28-18) vs. Twin Falls Hawks, 2 p.m.

Friday

At Melaleuca Field

Game 5 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 9 a.m.

Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, noon

Game 7 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 3 p.m.

Game 8 - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 6

Saturday

At Melaleuca Field

Game 9 - Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 9 a.m.

Game 10 - Loser Game 5 vs. Winner Game 8, noon

Game 11 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 3 p.m.

Game 12 - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 6

Sunday

At Bonneville High

Game 13 - Loser Game 11 vs. Loser Game 12, 9 a.m.

Game 14 - Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, noon (championship game)

Monday

At Bonneville High

Game 15 - Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14, 9 a.m. (if necessary game)