PREP BASEBALL: Vikings rally past Lake City
MARK NELKE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 7 months AGO
Mark Nelke covers high school and North Idaho College sports, University of Idaho football and other local/regional sports as a writer, photographer, paginator and editor at the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has been at The Press since 1998 and sports editor since 2002. Before that, Mark was the one-man sports staff for 16 years at the Bonner County Daily Bee in Sandpoint. Earlier, he was sports editor for student newspapers at Spokane Falls Community College and Eastern Washington University. Mark enjoys the NCAA men's basketball tournament and wiener dogs — and not necessarily in that order. | May 5, 2015 9:00 PM
COEUR d'ALENE - Sophomore Jackson Sumner continued his clutch hitting on Monday, and because of that, the Coeur d'Alene High baseball team will play for another regional baseball title today.
Sumner's two-run double to the fence in left-center field with two outs in the sixth inning gave Coeur d'Alene its first lead of the game, and the No. 2 seed Vikings went on to beat the No. 3 seed Lake City Timberwolves 7-6 in the first round of the 5A Region 1 baseball tournament at Ted Page Field.
"Jackson's just one of those kids that's going to be a guy for us, " Coeur d'Alene coach Nick Rook said of Sumner, who came up similarly big in both games of a doubleheader sweep of Lewiston recently. "We've always believed that in him. He struggled a little bit early, but he's a guy. He's a dude."
Coeur d'Alene (17-7) will travel to No. 1 seed Lewiston (20-5) today at 4 p.m. in the regional title game. The Bengals scored once in the bottom of the seventh to edge No. 4 Post Falls 2-1.
Lake City (15-10) will host Post Falls (7-15) today at 4 in a loser-out game.
Lake City, which beat Coeur d'Alene twice in four meetings during the regular season, led 3-0 after 4 1/2 innings and 5-2 after 5 1/2, but couldn't put the Vikings away.
Devin Kluss smashed a two-run home run - his first homer of the season - over the right field fence with two outs in the sixth to pull the Vikings within 5-4. Lake City reliever Cody Garza struck out Mike Hicks on a ball in the dirt, but the ball got away from the catcher and Hicks reached base.
Gibson Green grounded a single through the hole at short, setting up Sumner's heroics. Sumner eventually scored on a wild pitch, extending the Vikings' lead to 7-5 - an insurance run that proved huge.
"I'm pretty proud of the guys," Rook said. "We ask a lot of 'em, and sometimes it probably doesn't make a lot of sense to them, but these are the moments ... we practice hard, and play easy."
Connor Cardinel, who threw one pitch in relief to get the last out in the sixth, earned the victory.
Colin Richards, 6-1 as a starter, came in to start the seventh and earned his first save. He yielded an infield single to Reilly Cherry and a double to Stephen Vaudreuil, and a sacrifice fly by Sam Slusser pulled Lake City within a run. But Richards got the next two batters on a strikeout and a chopper to end the game.
"We knew they were going to have an inning - it was just when it was going to happen, and if we were going to be able to stop it, and they got just enough to pull it out at the end," Lake City coach Travis Georgius said. "I thought we competed; I thought we played a full seven (innings), and this is really the first group of kids that have been progressing there the last couple of years. I feel like we're right there; we've just got to get over that hurdle of being able to finish out a team like this."
Jordan Ross, Lake City's starting pitcher, doubled on the first pitch of the game and scored on Dominic Conigliaro's single. Ross finished with three runs scored. Conigliaro delivered a sacrifice fly and Cherry followed with a run-scoring double in the fifth, giving Lake City its 5-2 lead.
"Tomorrow's now really important, and especially after coming off an emotional game like this," Georgius said.
Lake City 100 022 1 - 6 9 0
Coeur d'Alene 000 025 x - 7 8 4
Jordan Ross, Cody Garza (5) and Reilly Cherry; Elliott Sparks, Connor Cardinel (6), Colin Richards (7) and Reggie Nault. W - Cardinel (3-1). L - Garza. S - Richards (1).
HITS - LC, Ross, Garza, Conigliaro, Cherry 2, Vaudreuil 2, Criswell 2. Cd'A - Kluss 2, Green 2, Sumner, Nault, Richards, Carter. 2B - Ross, Cherry, Vaudreuil, Criswell, Sumner. HR - Kluss (1).
Lewiston 2
Post Falls 1
LEWISTON — Luke White lined a single over the shortstop to score Jessup Scott with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh, lifting top-seeded Lewiston past fourth-seeded Post Falls in the first round of the 5A Region 1 baseball tournament at Church Field.
Post Falls (7-15) plays at Lake City today at 4 in a loser-out game. Lewiston (20-5) plays host to Coeur d’Alene (17-7) today at 4 in the title game.
Ryan Hunt singled in Chaz Bailey in the fourth inning to tie the game for Post Falls.
Post Falls 000 100 0 — 1 5 0
Lewiston 010 000 1 — 2 9 1
1 out when winning run scored.
Ryan Hunt, Dalton Lozier (7) and Treavor Hammell; Dalton Stamper and Jessup Scott. W — Stamper. L — Lozier.
HITS: PF — Lozier, Hammell, Hunt 2, Bennett. Lew — Tibbits 2, White, Moore 3, Phillips, Ricard, Murphy. 2B — Moore.
n 3A District 1
tournament
Timberlake 10
Kellogg 0
BONNERS FERRY — Wyatt Howard had two RBIs and Jarrett Plunkett and Jackson Shaffer added one apiece to lead the Tigers into the District 1 championship.
Derek Galloway struck out seven and allowed one hits and two walks in shutting out the Wildcats.
Timberlake (13-9) will face host Bonners Ferry (15-6), a 10-0 winner over Priest River on Monday, today in the title game at 4 p.m.
Kellogg 000 000 — 0 1 8
Timberlake 013 033 — 10 5 1
Game called after six innings due to 10-run rule
Silva, Bumbargener (5) and Bisaro; Galloway and Villanpando. W — Galloway. L — Silva.
HITS: Kell — Easly. TL — Plunkett 2, Howard, Wells, Shaffer.
Bonners Ferry 10
Priest River 0
BONNERS FERRY — Sophomore Jesse Dunham pitched his second no-hitter in as many starts to lead the top-seeded Badgers past the No. 4 Spartans in the first round of the 3A District 1 baseball tournament.
Dunham struck out seven and walked two for Bonners Ferry (16-6), which plays host to Timberlake (13-9) today at 4 in the championship game. Priest River (2-15) plays Kellogg (4-13) at 2 in a loser-out game.
Dunham also went 2 for 4 with four RBIs. He hit a three-run double in a six-run third inning for the Badgers, and ended the game with an RBI single in the fifth.
“He had a great day, and was in good control,” Bonners Ferry coach Tom Turpin said.
Priest River 000 00 — 0 0 2
Bonners Ferry 126 01 — 10 9 1
Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule.
Nate Petit, Marcus Weiler (3), Coal Stevens (5) and Benson Huntley; Jesse Dunham and Kevin Gray. W — Dunham. L — Petit.
HITS: PR — none. BF — Bateman, Dunham 2, Anzalone, Garcia, Gering, Blackmore, Bennett, Sabin. 2B — Dunham.
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