MOSCOW — In a loser-out 4A Inland Empire League district tournament game, the Bulldogs, led by a 3-for-4, three RBI effort from Dallen Williams, used a five-run fourth inning to take down the Hawks 8-5 at Moscow High on Monday. 

After two scoreless innings by both teams, Sandpoint struck first in the top of the third inning. Jorden Tyler and Drew Lehman hit back-to-back singles, and with two outs, Williams found the gap between first and second to single and put two runs on the board. In the fourth, Sandpoint stayed hot, getting an RBI single from Lehman and an RBI double from Mason Little to extend the lead to seven runs. Williams tacked on an insurance run in the sixth, singling to right field again. 

Sandpoint gave up some scattered runs over the next two innings but held on for the victory … keeping their season alive. On the mound, Jesse Turner picked up his third win of the year, striking out five batters while giving up four hits, three walks, and four earned runs over the course of six and two-thirds innings. Sage Medeiros and Tyler also notched two hits each in the contest.

“Jesse pitched really well, and our bats came alive, which was nice to see,” head coach Ricky Klontz said. “We had contributions from everyone and a total of 15 hits today.”

After winning, there wasn’t much time to celebrate as Sandpoint had to start their best-of-three series with Moscow. Even though both teams ended up with seven hits each, the Bears were able to take the first game, 7-0. Both Lehman and Little had multi-hit efforts, Finn Mellander a double, but the Bulldogs struggled with runners in scoring position. Williams was credited with the loss despite a relatively solid effort on the mound, striking out six batters and giving up five hits, five walks, and two earned runs over five innings.

“We had plenty of chances against Moscow today — three different times with a runner at third and no outs and couldn’t score anybody,” Klontz said. “Going forward, we need to take advantage of those opportunities. If we do a couple of little things differently, it’s a completely different ball game. I feel really good about our chances going into Wednesday.”

Sandpoint (7-16) will continue their best-of-three district tournament series at Moscow on Wednesday. If necessary, the third game will be played Friday, also in Moscow.

GAME ONE

Sandpoint 002 501 0 — 8 15 2

Lakeland 000 201 2 — 5 4 3

W — Turner. L — Taylor.

HITS: SPT — Williams 3, Tyler 2, Medeiros 2, Little 2, Lehman 2, Turner 1, Mellander 1, Day 1, L. Hansen 1. LAK — T. Ellwood 2, Cooksey 1, Mason 1.

2B — Little. HR — T. Ellwood.

RBI: SPT — Williams 3, Little 1, Lehman 1. LAK — T. Ellwood 2, R. Ellwood 1, Reilly 1.

SB: SPT — None. LAK — T. Ellwood 1.

GAME TWO

Sandpoint 000 000 0 — 0 7 3

Moscow 121 003 X — 7 7 2

W — Anderson. L — Williams.

HITS: SPT — Lehman 2, Little 2, Williams 1, Mellander 1, Medeiros 1. MOS — Green 2, McLaughlin 2, Hurley 1, Anderson 1, Breese 1.

2B — Mellander. 3B — McLaughlin.

RBI: SPT — None. MOS — Green 3, Anderson 1, Moscow 1.

SB: SPT — None. MOS — Kiblen 1.