The North Idaho Lakers opened up play at the Spokane Wood Bat Classic, which is played at fields in both Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, with back-to-back wins Friday morning at Lake City High School. The Lakers defeated the Shadle Park Highland A’s 17-0, and the Multi-sport 360 Steelheads 16U, a team based out of Tacoma, 10-6.

In the opener, the Lakers dominated in every possible way against Shadle Park. The Lakers put up 17 runs by the end of the fourth inning. Nine different players recorded a hit in the contest; Greyson Johnson, Jayden Kuprienko, and Jacob Aexel all had multiple RBIs. On the mound, five different players pitched one scoreless inning each for the Lakers in the 17-0 victory – Zeke Roop, Sage Medeiros, Jorden Tyler, Coleman Inge, and Aexel.

Immediately after beating the A’s, the Lakers came from behind to defeat the Steelheads. After giving up four runs in the first inning, Mason Little found his groove on the mound to help keep the Lakers in it. By the end of three innings, thanks to some key hits by Parker Reichart and Medeiros, the Lakers tied the game 4-4.

Entering the bottom of the fourth, the Lakers trailed 6-4, but a six-run, two-out rally by the Lakers would prove to be the difference between these two teams. Four of the six runs were walked in; the other two runs came via a single to center field by Roop. In the final inning, Reichart only gave up one hit on the mound to propel the Lakers to the 10-6 victory.

The North Idaho Lakers (11-8) will face the CDA Lumbermen 17U today, and the Wenatchee Valley Baseball Club and the Asotin County Blues tomorrow at Lake City High School. If victorious, the team will play in another match against an opponent to be determined Monday.

NORTH IDAHO 17, SHADLE PARK 0

North Idaho – 247 40 – 17 12 1

Shadle Park – 000 00 – 0 1 8

W - Roop. L – Eickstadt.

HITS: NIL – Kuprienko 2, Aexel 2, Inge 2, Little, Williams, Roop, Medeiros, Johnson, Caprio. SPA – Carlson.

MULTI-SPORT 6, NORTH IDAHO 10

Multi-sport 400 20 – 6 7 1

North Idaho 031 6X – 10 6 2

W – Reichart. L – Jones.

HITS: NIL – Reichart 2, Roop, Medeiros, Tyler, Little. MSS – Bozich 2, Jones, Schroeder, Hale, Johansson, Kjesbu.

2B – Jones, Reichart, Little.