The Lake City High softball team has played its last two games as if there's no tomorrow.

Lose, and they could have missed out on a chance to advance back to the state 5A tournament.

Keep winning, and who knows.

"We have been in playoff mode for the last three games, and the girls really have responded," said first-year Lake City coach Jesse Lenz, whose team opens the tournament against defending champion Mountain View of Meridian today at 11 a.m. at Post Falls High. "We know they (Mountain View) had some underclassmen step up to help the success they had and we embrace the opportunity to compete against them."

Mountain View (19-7), upset previously unbeaten Eagle (26-1) in the District 3 tournament semifinals. The Mustangs open the tournament today against Coeur d'Alene (23-1) at 9.

Coeur d'Alene has had nine days since its last game after being Lake City 7-1 in the Region 1 tournament championship game.

"It was huge to get the regional title," said Coeur d'Alene coach Larry Bieber, who plans to retire from coaching at the end of the season. "Knowing that if we can get a good scouting report on the other teams, we should have some success. We're just going to focus on each out, and each at-bat."

Eagle outscored its opponents 340-23 entering the District 3 tournament.

SOFTBALL

Pitchers Bradie Filmore and Autumn Moffat have combined for 15 shutouts for the Mustangs, and 15 of their games have ended early because of the mercy rule.

Eagle has won five state titles, the last one in 2008. Coeur d'Alene has won five state titles, the last one in 2012.

Lake City (18-7) beat Lewiston in the regional second-place game, then beat Rocky Mountain of Meridian 4-1 in a play-in game at Fruitland High on Saturday to advance to its seventh straight state tournament. The Timberwolves won state titles in 2011 and 2013.

"I learned a lot about my team with how they approached the trip (to Fruitland)," Lenz said. "We talked all week leading up to the game that this was a business trip. It took a great team effort to beat Rocky Mountain. I also learned that we could put anyone in at any time and they can step up and contribute to the success. We've been talking it one day at a time and getting better each day and not looking too far ahead."

Idaho Falls (17-9) will face Meridian (17-10) at 9 and Vallivue of Caldwell (18-10) will face Highland (20-7) of Pocatello in the other opening round game at 11.

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at Post Falls High.

4A: Lakeland, the runner-up two seasons ago, overcame an 0-7 start to go 6-2 in the 4A Inland Empire League and 8-15 overall, culminating with a 12-8 win at home over Sandpoint in the 4A Region 1 championship game. At 11 a.m. today, the Hawks will play against Middleton (19-4).

"We didn't let our losses early on get us down," Lakeland coach Colleen Bevacqua said.

In the big victory over Sandpoint, third baseman Shayna Woolley's grand slam kickstarted a huge rally. Woolley was a sophomore on the 2013 team.

"We have to keep playing the way we've been playing," Woolley said.

Defending champion Twin Falls opens today at 9 a.m. against Pocatello (15-11).

3A: It took some extra work, but the Timberlake Tigers did enough to land themselves back at the state tournament for a 16th straight season, all under coach Mike Menti.

Senior Katie Malloy and sophomore Hannah McGrath hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh, rallying the Tigers past the Payette Pirates 8-7 in a state play-in game last Saturday at Fruitland High.

"It's a nice feeling," Menti said. "It was pretty close to being over there for a while. Now we get a chance to go get a trophy."

Timberlake (15-10) opens the state tournament today against Shelley (11-9) at 9 a.m. at Ramsey Park in Coeur d'Alene.

Bonners Ferry won the District 1 championship for the first time, advancing to face Kimberly today, also at 9.

Defending champion Filer opens with Emmett (18-3) today at 11. Homedale (25-1) and Snake River (15-3) meet in the other opening round game at 9.

2A: Three-time champion Malad opens the tournament against District 1-2 champion and tournament host Orofino at 9 a.m.

Sports writer Bruce Bourquin contributed to this story.