LEGION BASEBALL: Lums reach semis before bowing out at 36-team tourney

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Coeur d’Alene’s bid for a third championship in as many tournaments fell just short Sunday.

The Lumbermen “AA” club fell 9-5 to the Spokane Crew 19U Black in a semifinal game of the 36-team Josh Dickerson Memorial Tournament at Bellevue College.

“They say the eight top-ranked teams in Washington were here, and we made it to the final four,” Coeur d’Alene coach Darren Taylor said.

Earlier Sunday, the Lums scored once in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings, then scored two in the eighth to beat New Level Peterson 18U 3-2.

Against the Crew, Coeur d’Alene (16-7) trailed 8-2 after the top of the third inning.

Ryan Schneider, whose dramatic two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth sent the Lums to the semifinals, started the next game on the mound and pitched two innings, walking three, striking out one, allowing two hits and three runs, two earned.

“I thought we had a good chance tonight,” Taylor said. “Schneider was in the early stages of heat exhaustion, so we had to take him out. It was an extra innings the game before, 90 degrees, and there was all that adrenaline from the game-winning homer.”

Kyle Bridge was 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Lums.

Andrew Karns (Coeur d’Alene High) went 2 for 3 with an RBI and run scored for the Crew.

Against New Level, Cooper Erickson singled with one out in the seventh, advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Eric Bumbaugh’s ground single to left.

With a runner starting on second in extra innings, New Level took the lead on a sacrifice fly.

Spencer Zeller started on second for the Lums in the bottom half, and Schneider homered to right field to win the game.

“Our starters did well,” Lums pitching coach Andy Beaudry said of the tournament, which saw Coeur d’Alene go 4-1 in the tourney. “It’s really a cohesive unit, as opposed to two or three guys doing all the work. We’re able to spread out the innings.”

Coeur d’Alene plays host to the Yakima Beetles on Tuesday in a 1 p.m. single game at McEuen Field.

COEUR d’ALENE 3, NEW LEVEL PETERSON 18U

New Level 000 010 01 — 2 8 1

Coeur d’Alene 000 000 12 — 3 9 2

L. Murawski and J. Daily; Jayden Butler, Jesse Brown (6) and Joe DuCoeur.

HITS: NL — Mertlich, Daily, Widman, Dawson 3, Murawski, Morrison. Cd’A — Bridge, Manzardo, Schneider 2, Larson, C. Erickson 2, Bumbaugh, A. Taylor. 2B — Morrison. HR — Schneider.

SPOKANE CREW 19U BLACK 9, COEUR d’ALENE 5

Spokane 125 001 0 — 9 6 2

Coeur d’Alene 110 010 2 — 5 5 2

Langan Naylor and D. Stevens; Ryan Schneider, Jesse Brown (3), Ethan Taylor (3) and Joe DuCoeur.

HITS: Crew — Karns 2, Waters 2, Hennesy, Schuyleman. Cd’A — Bridge 2, Manzardo, Schneider, E. Taylor. 2B — Schuyleman, Waters, Hennesy. 3B — Manzardo.

Libby 15

Northern Lakes 7

LIBBY, Mont. — The Mountaineers got off to a good start with five runs in the top of the first inning, but fell to the host squad to finish 0-4 at the Big Bucks Tournament.

Sam Pemberton hit a two-run double, and Scott Pote and Troy Sheppard added RBI singles for Northern Lakes (6-6) in the first. Pote finished with two hits.

Northern Lakes returns to action Thursday at home with a 3 p.m. doubleheader vs. Camas Prairie at Lakeland High in Rathdrum.

LIBBY 15, NORTHERN LAKES 7

N. Lakes 500 101 — 7 6 1

Libby 333 015 — 15 11 6

Payden Wysong, Kenny Wells (2), Wyatt Kitchin (3), Cooper Lenz (6) and Sam Pemberton; Libby battery unavailable.

HITS: NL — Pote 2, Pemberton 2, Sheppard, Kitchin. Lib — names unavailable. 2B — Pemberton 2. 3B — Kitchin.