COEUR d’ALENE — Challenged just to get to another 5A Region 1 softball championship, Lake City bounced back.

Facing a deficit early on in the title game, leave it to a senior to step up when the Timberwolves needed it again.

Olivia Zufelt hit a two-run home run, the first of three in the championship game for Lake City in a 10-1 win over Coeur d’Alene to advance to state next Friday and Saturday at Post Falls High.

Earlier, Lake City held off fourth-seeded Post Falls 8-5 to advance. Coeur d’Alene beat Lewiston 11-1 in six innings in its regional opener at Ramsey Park.

Later, Post Falls eliminated Lewiston 10-4 in a loser-out game at Ramsey. The Bengals finish 9-10.

Coeur d’Alene (9-8) hosts Post Falls (11-11) on Thursday in the regional second-place game at 4 p.m.

It is the fourth straight regional title for Lake City (25-0). The Timberwolves open at state next Friday against the third-place team from District 3 (Boise area) at 11 a.m.

“It was a common goal that we’ve had throughout the year,” Zufelt said. “It was a pretty big game because we knew we had to keep our heads in it, especially with the close game against Post Falls earlier.”

Lake City 10, Coeur d’Alene 1: Coeur d’Alene led 1-0 after the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Hailey Lyons to score Alexis Blakenship.

“We felt they had a different energy that they were bringing,” Zufelt said. “What I really love about this team is that we just matched it.”

Ashley Kaufman and Emma Gray also hit solo home runs for Lake City, which tied the school record of 53 home runs, set in 2013.

“The long ball has been there for us all year long,” Lake City coach Jesse Lenz said. “We don’t emphasize that, and don’t talk about that, but the long ball came in clutch today. We had some good at-bats and some good results today. We tied the record, but it’s never been something I’ve talked about to the kids. But it’s pretty amazing.”

Lake City broke it open in the fourth inning, scoring six runs — keyed by a two-run single by Reilley Chapman — to take a 9-1 lead.

“I was pleased with how my team responded today because Coeur d’Alene came into this game on a high,” Lenz said. “And I know they’re fighting for prom dates on Saturday because they don’t want to go to McCall (for the state 5A play-in game). And that had me a little worried, but this team has responded all year. I’ve been telling them they don’t have to do it all themselves, and it’s been really rewarding to watch them compete as a group.”

“What bugs me is that my girls have worked so hard at progressing throughout the season,” said first-year Coeur d’Alene coach Bobbi Darretta, who pitched Lake City to a state title in 2001. “We literally took every girl that tried out and just built them up as best we could. But it was more of mental errors than physical errors today. I’m hoping we can come out strong on Thursday, on Saturday strong, and be facing them again at the end of the season.”

Natalie Sell struck out four for Coeur d’Alene and Kaufman fanned five for Lake City.

“We changed our lineup a little bit and it worked out well for us,” Darretta said. “My girls were hitting and we had low strikeouts against us and we’re capable of winning this thing. It’s just our mental errors, I just need them to believe it. My pitcher was phenomenal. Really, I thought going into it, I thought we were going to have it. We tried it the normal way with our starting nine, and then tried to throw them off with Madie (Cleave, who came in for Sell in the third inning and pitched into the fourth) and it worked for a little bit, then we came back strong with Natalie, and we just had a couple of errors there and we couldn’t come back from that.”

LAKE CITY 10, COEUR d’ALENE 1

Coeur d’Alene 100 000 0 — 1 7 2

Lake City 210 601 x — 10 8 0

Natalie Sell, Madie Cleave (3), Sell (4) and Hailey Lyons; Ashley Kaufman, Amandy Curry (7) and Jalyssa Beamer. W — Kaufman. L — Sell.

HITS: Cd’A — Blakenship, Lyons 2, Kane, Cleave, Fernimen, Sell. LC — Zufelt, Kaufman, E. Gray, Beamer, Jankay, Chapman, Allen, A. Gray. 2B — Blakenship, Lyons, Beamer. HR — Zufelt, Kaufman, E. Gray.

Post Falls 10, Lewiston 4: Bubba Gleaves hit a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning as the fourth-seeded Trojans eliminated the third-seeded Bengals at Ramsey Park.

POST FALLS 10, LEWISTON 4

Post Falls 120 040 3 — 10 12 2

Lewiston 102 010 0 — 4 9 3

Sophie Nungesser and Alyssa Krause; O’Connor, Mader (5) and Barney. W — Nungesser. L — O’Connor.

HITS: PF — Dumas 2, Horn 2, Gleaves 2, Barber 3, Krause, Moak, Richart. Lew — Barney 3, Sorenson 2, Wells 2, Bausch, Lawrence. 2B — Dumas, Barney 2. HR — Gleaves, Barney.

Coeur d’Alene 11, Lewiston 1, 6 inn.: Sell struck out 10 and had a two-run single in the first inning as the Vikings beat the Bengals in a opening-round game at Ramsey Park.

Blankenship drove in four runs for Coeur d’Alene in the win.

COEUR d’ALENE 11, LEWISTON 1

Lewiston 000 001 — 1 2 0

Coeur d’Alene 225 002 — 11 11 0

Game called with 1 out in bottom of 6th inning due to 10-run rule.

J. Ortiz and M. Sorenson; Natalie Sell and Hailey Lyons. W — Sell. L — Ortiz.

HITS: Lew — Wells, House. Cd’A — Fernimen 4, Kane, Sell, Blankenship 2, Comack 2, Cleave. 2B — Comack.

Lake City 8, Post Falls 5: Kaufman hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning as the top seeded Timberwolves held off the fourth-seeded Trojans at Lake City High.

Gleaves had three hits and two RBIs against Lake City.

Emma Gray hit a solo home run in the third inning for Lake City.

LAKE CITY 8, POST FALLS 5

Post Falls 001 010 3 — 5 11 3

Lake City 001 313 x — 8 9 0

McKenna Moak, Sophie Nungesser (5) and Alyssa Krause; Ashley Kaufman, Amanda Curry (7) and Jalyssa Beamer. W — Kaufman. L — Moak.

HITS: PF — Dumas 3, Horn 2, Gleaves 3, Krause 2, Moak. LC — Taylor, E. Gray, Allen 2, Beamer, Jankay, Kaufman 3. 2B — Dumas 2, Krause. 3B — Kaufman. HR — Kaufman.