When Lewis-Clark State's baseball program won the NAIA World Series last weekend, the championship hit close to home for a pair of Coeur d'Alene standouts who used to play in Lewiston, and are now back coaching in Cd'A.

Travis Georgius, a 2006 Coeur d'Alene High graduate, played catcher at L-C State from 2007-10. He recently completed his third season as head baseball coach at Lake City High. He was part of two national title teams with the Warriors, in 2007 and '08. Until last Friday, the '08 team was the last L-C State team to win a national title.

"Six years - in L-C terms - is a pretty long drought, and not that they haven't been close the last two years - back to back runners-up - and to finally see them get to dogpile was relieving," Georgius said. "The way they did it was really impressive and exciting to watch. Seeing guys night in and night out step up in big situations, come back from adversity, and never quit is what made L-C baseball the program it is, and it's good to see them still have that toughness."

Zach Clanton, a 2008 Lake City High grad, was a pitcher who played at L-C State (along with another former Timberwolf standout, infielder Trent Bridges) from 2009-12. Clanton is in his second season as head coach for Coeur d'Alene's American Legion baseball program, and recently completed his first season as assistant coach at Wenatchee Valley College.

"I know how much pressure there is on those teams and those coaching staffs to win it each and every year," Clanton said. "I like coach (Jeremiah) Robbins and he always said hello to me while I was back finishing my degree. He had big shoes to fill having to replace coach (Ed) Cheff so I'm sure he's happy to get his first one, and get that weight off his shoulders. The natives talk about it a ton, they just increase the expectations. A lot of natives are also alumni so they increase it even more."

AH, THOSE expectations.

L-C State's most recent title was its 17th, all since 1984. The first 16 titles came in a 25-year span, so you can imagine the locals had come to expect such success. So imagine the vibe in Lewiston of late, as the Warriors went six straight years without a title.

"There definitely is a sense of disappointment when the team doesn't win ... but Lewiston is a great town to be a Warrior in," Georgius said. "I tell people, 'You are the football team. People know you and associate you with the program, good or bad, so it's something you have to be conscious of.' The support of the whole community is something you don't see very many places for a sport like baseball. It is a fantastic atmosphere and the college does a tremendous job putting the Series on."

Clanton and Georgius were teammates on the 2009 and '10 teams. Each year Clanton and Bridges were at L-C State, the Warriors won one game and lost twice at the NAIA World Series.

"It was very tough for me, just because I had a one-track mind from the time I got there to Year 4," Clanton said. "I was less worried about getting drafted and (more concerned with) just winning a ring. Trent Bridges and I had played with guys who won one before we got there and we're always around alums, so we were constantly reminded about how important it is to win it there. However I know my time there shaped me as a man, and especially shaped me as a coach. There are certainly things from my time in Lewiston that will be with me for the rest of my life."

However, those expectations also make winning a national title feel that much better.

"I think adding to the legacy was what I felt the most prideful about," Georgius said. "Knowing people who won titles before and being able to say I was a part of a team that added another banner to the wall and another year to the fence is pretty special because it's not about you. It's about the needing to match and prove yourselves to the guys who came before you and expect you to continue what they laid in place. So to actually do it was special.

"When I think of those two (championship) years I think of the team itself. We beat Air Force, Gonzaga, WSU, the University of Washington, and knowing that we weren't just any NAIA school, we were a damn good baseball team. And for me to be able to go back to Lewiston and know that I contributed in some way to the legacy is what I will remember."

That, and horse manure.

"It (winning) made the season and everything that went into it, from the end of August to the end of May, worth it," Georgius said. "The running of the hill at 5 a.m., the late-night runs after bad games, the shoveling of horse manure after the rodeo, the boxing smoker, the endless scrimmages, and countless at bats against the slider machines. Made it all worth it, and was such a sense of accomplishment to look at the big board in left field and see 2007 and 2008 up there knowing you were a part of continuing that legacy. Being a part of LCSC baseball isn't limited to the Northwest; people know about L-C in California, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida -- it's a small school with quite a reach in the baseball community."

BOTH STILL follow the program, still have some ties.

"Especially coaching at Wenatchee Valley," Clanton said, "because I want to send our better players on to play for them. Coach (Allen) Balmer is still there, who was with me for four years. Zach Holley is the only player left who I played with and I'm psyched for him, especially with him being from Lewiston and his dad being an alum who won one."

Georgius said he still enjoys going down to Lewiston for games and practices.

"I know a few of the seniors still from when I was finishing up school down there so to see them get a title before they left was pretty exciting," he said. "A few coaches I still know pretty well and Jeremiah has been more than gracious with his time to me and our Lake City program when we have been down there. We've talked about Ed, and his influence on our philosophies, as well as baseball and life in general so I'm very supportive of what he is doing down in Lewiston.

"I remember having a conversation with Ed right after he retired and we were watching LC play Western Oregon (when Robbins was still coaching Western Oregon) and I mentioned how much I enjoyed watching and playing his teams and Ed had nothing but good things to say about Jeremiah. Kind of funny looking back on that conversation and seeing how things played out."

Georgius said he's taken his Lake City players down to Lewiston for opening weekend, and Robbins and his staff have come up with their players to host Lake City's Warrior Winter Clinic.

"A big thing for LCSC right now is expanding into the North," Georgius said, "and since I've graduated I see more and more people from Coeur d'Alene considering LCSC for school - both just as a student and for athletics - so I think the outreach has been positive."

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.