COEUR d'ALENE - Devin Kluss knew that if he got a fastball with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, he could do something with it.

While he didn't get the fastball he was looking for, he was able to take a changeup from Prairie pitcher Jesse Marks to right field to snap a 6-all tie and drive in the go-ahead runs as the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen defeated the Prairie Cardinals 8-6 in the class AA North Idaho League opener for both teams at Lake City High on Thursday.

"I've hit off him before and knew he didn't have a lot of off-speed pitches," Kluss said. "I thought that if I could get a fastball, but wound up getting a changeup away and did something with it."

"(Coeur d'Alene assistant coach) Cory (Bridges) has been working with Devin the last couple of weeks," Coeur d'Alene coach Lloyd Duman said. "Over the weekend (at Missoula), Devin hit the ball really well and this was just a continuation of that. He's really coming around, so we moved him up to the three spot in the lineup and he's getting more comfortable."

The lefthanded-hitting Kluss came up with two out and runners on second and third.

"I was thinking about putting him on, and if I had to do it again, I probably would have put him on and gone to their fourth hitter (Jacob Gonzales)," Prairie coach Dustin Frank said. "They got a couple of hits and we didn't make a couple of plays that we usually make and that's what baseball is about."

Coeur d'Alene (2-3) will face the Spokane Northstars today at 5 p.m. and Walla Walla at 7:30 p.m. in the Border Wars tournament at Ramsey Park.

Kluss also grounded out to score a run in the third inning, and finished with three RBIs in the game.

"I really haven't hit third since Little League," Kluss said. "It's not where I normally hit, but it's pretty fun to be there. I feel like it's a big opportunity."

Jacob Koski had three hits and Killian Estes had two hits and two RBIs for Prairie (0-3), which faces the Spokane Blue Devils on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Ramsey Park as part of the Border Wars tourney.

"Jacob was exciting to see today," Frank said. "By the end of the season, he's going to earn himself some playing time. He crushed the ball today and played well defensively. It was exciting to see him step up today."

Carter Chaffin and Colby Kennedy had RBIs for Coeur d'Alene.

"It was nice to get the first league win," Duman said. "It's early, but I'm glad that we're starting to come out and play well. Our goal is to improve in some aspect each game along the way because we've got a long way to go. But we made a lot of improvements today."

"It feels really nice," Kluss said. "Last year on the 'A' Loggers, we lost our first league game and had to play from behind all year. It feels good to get the first one out of the way."

Prairie 030 120 0 - 6 9 4

Coeur d'Alene 003 212 x - 8 6 1

Dustin Ceballos, Jesse Marks (5) and James Prockish; Stephen Babich, Elliott Sparks (3), Derek Griffin (6) and Colton Gray. W - Griffin (1-0). L - Ceballos (0-1).

HITS: Pra - Koski 3, Estes 2, Walls, Allen, Ceballos, Denney. Cd'A - Kluss, Chaffin, Kennedy, Robbins, Gonzales, Robbins. 2B - Koski, Estes, Ceballos, Kennedy. 3B - Allen.