POST FALLS - It's what many expected.

Maybe not so soon, but they got it.

For the full seven innings.

To get it again, it's going to take some work by the Coeur d'Alene Vikings.

Included in that work will be a rematch with 5A Inland Empire League rival Lake City.

In the opening round of the state 5A softball tournament, Eagle sophomore Hailey Fisher homered with one out in the seventh inning, lifting the Mustangs past Coeur d'Alene 6-5 at Post Falls High.

"That home run killed us," Coeur d'Alene coach Larry Bieber said. "I've never seen Bre (Breana Burke) give up 15 hits in a game, but Eagle's a hard-hitting team."

Coeur d'Alene went on to win its next two games, beating Vallivue of Caldwell 6-2 and defending state champion Mountain View of Meridian 10-0 to advance.

After Lake City lost 5-4 to Mountain View to open the tournament, the Timberwolves (20-8) won their next two - beating Idaho Falls 5-2 and Highland of Pocatello 12-4 - to move into today's consolation final against the Vikings (25-2) at 10 a.m. at Post Falls High. Both teams are guaranteed a trophy; the loser finishes fourth.

"It wasn't exactly how we wanted it to go today, but you just play the game ahead of you," first-year Lake City coach Jesse Lenz said. "And that's what we did today. Everybody's good at state, but we had to keep playing and battling. We were able to come back against Idaho Falls and we're excited to play Coeur d'Alene one more time."

In the championship bracket, Meridian (19-10), beat Mountain View 6-1 in the second round. The Warriors will face Eagle (28-1), which romped past Highland 20-5 in its second-round game, advancing to the semifinals today at 10 a.m.

Eagle 6, Coeur d'Alene 5: With the game tied at 5 in the top of the seventh, Fisher's homer to left-center field gave Eagle the lead for good against the Vikings in a matchup of a pair of one-loss teams entering the tournament.

"That's what we expected," Eagle coach Doug Corta said. "A one-run game, one situation, one hit, and that's what we've talked about all year long."

Autumn Moffat hit a two-run single to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

Coeur d'Alene bounced back to even the score in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Mariah Montee. The Vikings took their first lead of the day on an RBI double by Jane Wilkey in the fourth inning.

Rachel Menlove's two-run double in the fifth gave Eagle the lead back at 4-3, and another run scored on an error.

Coeur d'Alene senior Kylie Rasmussen hit a solo home run in the fifth to move the Vikings within a run, and Bryce Catt followed with a solo shot to center field in the sixth to tie it.

Coeur d'Alene failed to get a runner on base in the seventh.

"Hailey's home run was huge," Corta said. "We've been working on situational hitting all year. All we were trying to do was get a hit, but if it goes over the fence, that's a plus."

Eagle 200 030 1 - 6 14 3

Coeur d'Alene 110 110 0 - 5 7 1

Bradie Fillmore and Rachel Menlove; Breana Burke and Abby Howard. W - Fillmore. L - Burke (21-2).

HITS: Eag - Tooley, Fillmore 4, Moffat 2, French 2, Strickler, Fisher 2, Menlove 2. Cd'A - Howard, Behm, Catt 2, Wilkey, Montee 2, Rasmussen. 2B - Menlove, Howard, Catt, Wilkey, Montee. HR - Fisher, Catt, Rasmussen.

see 5A/4A SOFTBALL, B2

Mountain View 5, Lake City 4: Samm Hamiton hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, giving the Mavericks the lead for good in the opening round game.

"We definitely had some key hits with runners on and some innings where we pushed some runs across," Mountain View coach Tim Souza said. "It's tough against a team like Lake City. They're such a quality team and you've got to be able to match what they do. They got some key hits and play a great style of softball."

Ally Dement had an RBI single in the fourth for Lake City.

Lake City 100 100 2 - 4 8 1

Mountain View 001 220 x - 5 10 4

Michaela Flerchinger and Chloe Falciani-Marshall; Megan Browne and Kylie Orr. W - Browne. L - Flerchinger (18-7).

HITS: LC - Wilson 2, Murphy 2, Loffer 2, Hawkes, Dement. MV - Hawk 2, Browne 2, Kelly-Harvey 2, Hamilton, Scott, Orr 2. 2B - Loffer, Browne, Scott. HR - Hamilton.

Coeur d'Alene 6, Vallivue 2: Analisa Raynor hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, helping the Vikings extend their advantage to eliminate the Falcons.

Rasmussen hit her second home run of the day with two out in the first, a solo home run to left field to give the Vikings an early lead.

Burke struck out seven for Coeur d'Alene in the win.

Kacie Kubosomi had four hits, including a solo home run in the first inning for Vallivue, which finished 18-12.

Coeur d'Alene 100 022 1 - 6 9 2

Vallivue 100 100 0 - 2 6 2

Breana Burke and Abby Howard; Morris and Rodriguez. W - Burke (22-2). L - Morris.

HITS: Cd'A - Montee 2, Rasmussen, Behm 2, Raynor, Donovan, Burke. Vall - Kubosomi 4, Longard, Raney. HR - Rasmussen, Raynor, Kubosomi.

Lake City 5, Idaho Falls 2: Rummor Walker delivered a two-run double in the seventh inning as the Timberwolves eliminated the Tigers (17-11).

Idaho Falls led 2-0 after the second inning, but Lake City took the lead for good with a three-run third inning, capped by an RBI single by JaeCie Wilson.

Lake City 000 300 2 - 5 13 2

Idaho Falls 110 000 0 - 2 7 3

Michaela Flerchinger and Kimmie Cook; Baylee Mills and Madalyn Hilam. W - Flerchinger (19-7). L - Mills.

HITS: LC - Wilson 4, Walker 3, Cavanagh 2, Hawkes, Dement, Murphy, Loffer. IF - Stohl 2, Wilkinson, Moss, Myles, Billings, Storms. 2B - Walker, Cavanagh, Myles.

Coeur d'Alene 10, Mountain View 0: Jadyn Behm had a two-run double in the first inning, then hit a two-run homer in the fifth for the Vikings against the Mavericks.

"Jadyn's been hitting the ball really hard the last two weeks," Bieber said. "We just finally got some of them where they weren't. She hit a couple of shots at people today."

Mountain View finished 20-9.

Coeur d'Alene 310 006 - 10 12 1

Mountain View 000 000 - 0 2 2

Game called after 6 innings due to 10-run rule.

Breana Burke, Jane Wilkey (5) and Abby Howard; Samm Hamilton and Jordyn Franco. W - Burke (24-2). L - Hamilton.

HITS: Cd'A - Behm 3, Amos, Smith, Rasmussen, Raynor 2, Wilkey 2, Burke, Catt. MV - Orr, Hawk. 2B - Behm, Catt. 3B - Raynor. HR - Behm.

Lake City 12, Highland 4: JaeCie Wilson and Bailey Cavanagh had two-run doubles in a five-run third inning as the Timberwolves eliminated the Rams.

"JaeCie led the way for us," Lenz said. "Rummor (Walker) had a great day. It's really a team effort. Kaya (Michaela Flerchinger) threw the ball very well today. She battled on every pitch. She had some adversity and threw the ball extremely well. Everyone played well."

Highland finished 21-9.

Highland 200 200 0 - 4 9 3

Lake City 045 030 x - 12 13 1

Kiara Glover and Mikayla Kanawyer; Michaela Flerchinger, Kayla Patton (7) and Kimmie Cook. W - Flerchinger (20-7). L - Glover.

HITS: High - Huelsman 3, Kortgen, Grover, Benson, Kanawyer. LC - Wilson 3, Loffer 3, Cavanagh 2, Cook 2, Walker 2, Murphy. 2B - Kortgen, Wilson, Loffer, Cavanagh, Walker, Murphy.

Meridian 5, Idaho Falls 2: Lexi Knauss hit a two-run homer in the third inning for the Warriors in an opening round win against the Tigers. Saydee Moss homered in the seventh for Idaho Falls.

Highland 12, Vallivue 7: Jayden Benson hit a three-run home run in the fourth as the Rams topped the Falcons in the opening round.

Eagle 20, Highland 5: Autumn Moffat hit a grand slam in the fourth inning, leading the Mustangs past the Rams in a quarterfinal game.

Meridian 6, Mountain View 1: Sam Whitley and Devon Stapleton had RBI singles in the fourth inning for the Warriors in a second round game against the Mavericks.