STATE 4A SOFTBALL: Lakeland assured of trophy — Hawks win twice after opening-round loss

By MARK NELKE

and JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writers

POST FALLS — Lakeland High softball coach Dwayne Curry tried to throw a change of pace at the top-seeded Bishop Kelly Knights in their first-round matchup at the state 4A softball tournament at Post Falls High.

But the two-time defending state champions showed they could hit whoever was in the circle.

Harper Campanella hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and Kaysie Jolley added a solo shot in the third, part of a 15-hit attack in BK’s 13-3 win over the Hawks in five innings.

Curry started sophomore Emma Avalos in the circle, rather than senior Haylee Smit, who pitched Lakeland to the Region 1 title last week.

“I wanted to see if we could throw them off with a little bit different-look pitcher,” Curry said. “They’re really good hitters; they could dial in anybody pretty quickly. And they did.”

Lakeland then came back to beat Blackfoot 11-5 in a loser-out game, then ousted Pocatello 8-4 to assure the Hawks of a trophy for a top-four finish.

Lakeland (16-13) will face Vallivue (20-9) of Caldwell today at 10 a.m. in another loser-out game.

Bishop Kelly (23-4) will play Twin Falls (19-10) in the semifinal game, also at 10.

The championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Bishop Kelly 13, Lakeland 3: Curry went to Smit in the second inning, with BK up 4-0.

Lakeland, a power-hitting team averaging eight runs per game, managed just seven hits off Faith Nichols, BK’s No. 2 pitcher.

“I thought we would have hit her a little bit better than we did,” Curry said. “We showed some signs of it, a little bit of power showed up, but not what we can bring.”

Shortstop Harley See hit a solo homer for Lakeland in the top of the third inning, and Smit followed with an RBI single to cut the Knights’ lead to 7-2. Payton Sterling hit a solo homer in the fifth, but BK answered with a run in the bottom half to end the game on the 10-run rule.

“We found out in the last inning, they (the Hawks) are going to hit drop balls all day, so we changed things up a little bit,” said Melissa Nichols, in her sixth season as BK coach, after coaching at Rocky Mountain. “We knew they were a heavy hitting team. They put a couple out on us, and they put a couple out at the right time, enough to make us a little nervous.”

Lakeland 11, Blackfoot 6: The Hawks trailed the Broncos 5-1 after three innings before tying it with four runs in the top of the fifth inning, then putting it away with five runs in the seventh.

Smit’s three-run homer in the fifth tied the game at 5. See walked to lead off the sixth, and scored the go-ahead run on a groundout.

In the seventh, freshman Alexis Hanna hit a two-run homer to increase Lakeland’s lead to 9-5, and Avalos added a two-run single.

Avalos finished 3 for 5 with three RBIs and a run scored. See was 3 for 4 with three runs scored, and Kyleigh Dyer went 3 for 3.

Lakeland 8, Pocatello 5: Cienna Walls and Payton Sterling delivered back-to-back RBI doubles in the top of the fifth inning as the Hawks pulled away from the Thunder in a loser-out game.

“I know my girls can hit,” Curry said. “We just needed opportunities. We started a little slow today, but we dialed it back in after that first game (against Bishop Kelly) and need to keep it going tomorrow.”

Senior Haylee Smit had an RBI and drew three walks against Pocatello. Smit, who earned the win in the circle against Pocatello, returned to the lineup three weeks ago after breaking her right index finger.

“It was kind of nerve wracking, but our offense and defense pulled through well,” Smit said. “It feels good to get to the second day. We’ve been to state three times since my freshman year and haven’t won a game, let alone get to the second day.”

“Haylee’s been our workhorse this year,” Curry said. “She’s playing great right now.”

Pocatello (18-7) brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but a groundout to first ended the game.

BISHOP KELLY 13, LAKELAND 3

Lakeland 002 01 — 3 7 4

Bishop Kelly 434 11 — 13 15 0

Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule.

Emma Avalos, Haylee Smit (2) and Payton Sterling; Faith Nichols and Claire Cunningham.

HITS: LL, See, Sterling 2, Avalos 2, Smit 2. BK — Jolley 3, Stoker, Armuth 3, Villegas, Cook 2, Campanella 2, Nichols 3. 2B — Avalos, Smit, Campanella, Stoker. HR — Sterling, See, Jolley, Campanella.

LAKELAND 11, BLACKFOOT 6

Lakeland 001 041 5 — 11 15 2

Blackfoot 113 000 1 — 6 8 0

Haylee Smit and Payton Sterling; Morgan Mecham, Sami Staley (4) and unknown.

HITS: LL — See 3, Walls, Sterling, Avalos 3, Smit, Byrne, Dyer 3, Hanna, Staudinger. Black — Staley, Allen, Smith, Cronquist, Agado, Luna 2, Cooper. 2B — Luna. HR — Smit, Hanna.

LAKELAND 8, POCATELLO 5

Lakeland 002 230 1 — 8 9 3

Pocatello 101 011 1 — 5 13 1

Haylee Smit and Payton Sterling; Taylee Rogers, Miah Lusk (2) and McKinley Hill.

HITS: LL — See 2, Walls, Sterling, Smit, Dyer 3, Staudinger. Poc — Bunderson 2, Campbell, Hill 4, Kent 2, Burt, Sullivan 2, Ramirez. 2B — Dyer, Smit, Sterling, Walls, Hill. HR — Hill.