Shadle Park 15, North Idaho 10

DEER PARK — Erik Hansen went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored as the Lakers were defeated by the Bagpipers in their first game of Spokane American/National League "A" district tournament pool play Wednesday at Deer Park High.

Cody Gutierrez added a 2-for-5 effort, which included four RBI and a triple, for North Idaho, which kept pace with Shadle Park until the very end. Down 9-1 heading into the third inning, Hansen smashed an RBI single and the Lakers eventually closed the gap to six runs. In the fourth, Cy Marshall hit an RBI single, Gutierrez a two-run triple to keep the Lakers within striking distance, 11-6.

Down but not out, the Lakers continued to fight. Drake Burk and Arrow Cramer, who also had a multi-hit effort in the contest, knocked home back-to-back RBI singles during a four-run sixth inning that brought the score to 12-10 before Shadle Park added three runs of their own in the top half of the seventh.

North Idaho pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts in total. Hansen tallied six strikeouts over just 2.1 frames in relief while Priest River High rising sophomore Karsen Garvin struck out six batters of his own across the final three frames.

The Lakers would have to turn around and face Tri-County, the top-seeded team in their pool, the same day in hopes of keeping their postseason alive.

Shadle Park 1 5 3 2 0 1 3 — 15 10 0

North Idaho 0 1 2 3 0 4 0 — 10 11 1

PITCHING

NI — Marshall: 1IP, 2H, 4ER, 2BB, 2K. Hansen: 2.1IP, 3H, 6ER, 5BB, 6K. Garvin: 3.2IP, 5H, 5ER, 5BB, 6K. SP — Horey: 3.1IP, 3H, 5ER, 4BB, 5K. Santos: 1.2IP, 5H, 5ER, 2BB, 0K. Owen: 2IP, 3H, 0ER, 1BB, 2K.

BATTING

HITS: NI — Hansen 3, Gutierrez 2, Ar. Cramer 2, Marshall 1, Garvin 1, Burk 1, As. Cramer 1. SP — Rollins 3, Owen 3, Haux 1, Horey 1, Villalobos 1, Santos 1. 2B — Hansen. 3B — Gutierrez. RBI: NI — Gutierrez 4, Burk 2, Marshall 1, Ar. Cramer 1. SP — Haux 2, Owen 2, Thomas 1, Horey 1, Rollins 1, Bradshaw 1, Santos 1.

Tri-County 10, North Idaho 9

DEER PARK — In what was a battle until the last out, the Lakers, who fell to the North Stars by scores of 9-1, 17-4, and 10-0 earlier this season, put a scare into the home team, falling by just one run via a two-out walk-off double in their final game of Spokane American/National League "A" district tournament pool play Wednesday at Deer Park High. 

Clark Fork's Tayden Cramer, just 13 years old, got tasked with the start on the mound and delivered. He struck out three batters across four quality frames to allow the Lakers to take a 5-0 early lead.

In the first frame, Noah Langlois produced an RBI single to start off the night's scoring. Arrow Cramer, Langlois and Cy Marshall, who had three hits, then contributed RBI singles during the Lakers' four-run second inning to push the advantage to five runs. The North Stars rallied for four runs in both the fourth and sixth frames to take an 8-5 lead, but North Idaho refused to surrender. 

With two outs in the top of the seventh, Erik Hansen, Priest River High rising sophomore Karsen Garvin and Emery Loosier hit RBI singles in three straight plate appearances to tie the game 8-8. During the next at-bat, Arrow Cramer smacked an RBI double to plate the go-ahead run before Tri-County secured victory in the bottom half of the inning.

"The team showed a lot of heart and fight," head coach Travis Tyler said about both games. "Not only were they having to endure the heat and the pressure of trying to make comebacks, but they really had to focus in and tune out the distractions. We had boys in the outfield making diving catches and boys in the infield making great throws. They had their pitchers' backs and were ready for whatever came our way. Those two games were all heart and determination, especially game two ... it was great to see."

The 16U North Idaho Lakers officially finished the season with a record of 9-17-1 under Tyler, his first year as head coach of the program. Tyler believes a strong foundation has been built with this group of players and that the years ahead are looking bright.

"I'm really looking forward to next year — we get to bring back a bunch of players," Tyler said. "The Deer Park coach came up to us after the game and said he had much respect for us, noting how much we have improved from the beginning of the season until now. With the core group of boys we have, we should be very competitive going forward. Coach Erik and I are very excited to watch them grow."

North Idaho 1 4 0 0 0 0 4 — 9 13 1

Tri-County 0 0 0 4 0 4 2 — 10 13 0

PITCHING

NI — T. Cramer: 4IP, 6H, 4ER, 2BB, 3K. Marshall: 2.2IP, 7H, 6ER, 4BB, 3K. TC — Knudsvig: 2IP, 7H, 5ER, 1BB, 2K. Lee: 5IP, 6H, 4ER, 2BB, 5K.

BATTING

HITS: NI — Marshall 3, Langlois 2, Gutierrez 1, Hansen 1, Garvin 1, Burk 1, Loosier 1, As. Cramer 1, Ar. Cramer 1, Balch 1. TC — Byrd 2, Hunsaker 2, Flugel 2, Jenkinson 2, Talmich 2, Mace 1, Robb 1, Wood 1. 2B — Talmich 2, Ar. Cramer, Robb, Hunsaker, Flugel. RBI: NI — Langlois 2, Hansen 1, Garvin 1, Loosier 1, Ar. Cramer 1, As. Cramer 1, Marshall 1. TC — Talmich 4, Robb 2, Byrd 1, Jenkinson 1, Wood 1.