LEGION BASEBALL: Prairie, Northern Lakes clinch berths to state 'A' tourney

• A

COEUR d’ALENE — Timothy Howard doubled to score Grady Stinson with the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth inning for Prairie, which advanced to the Class A Area A championship game with a 13-8 win over top-seeded Northern Lakes on Saturday at Thorco Field to qualify for the state tournament starting Thursday at the Tiger Athletic Complex in Idaho Falls.

Gavin Wienker had a two-run single to score Howard and James Morast in the fifth for Prairie (20-12-1), which scored seven runs in the fifth to take a 13-6 lead. 

Jake Larcher had an RBI single to score Cooper Lenz in the sixth for Northern Lakes (30-6). 

Later, Northern Lakes beat Coeur d'Alene 22-2 in five innings to also advance to state. Northern Lakes and Prairie will meet in the championship game today at 10 a.m., with an if-necessary game scheduled for 1 p.m. to determine seeding to state.

Northern Lakes 22, Coeur d’Alene 2, 5 inn.: Jace Taylor went 2 for 3 with four RBIs and three runs scored for the Mountaineers (31-6), who beat the Lumbermen (18-19-2) in a loser-out game. 

Ethan Pecor went 3 for 3 with three RBIs and three runs scored for Northern Lakes.

Coeur d’Alene 13, Lewis-Clark 12: JD Davenport drove in four runs for the Lumbermen, who eliminated the Cubs (27-12). 

Davenport hit a two-run double in the second inning, then had an RBI double in the sixth for Coeur d’Alene. 

PRAIRIE 13, NORTHERN LAKES 8 

Prairie            204    070    0    —    13    9    2 

Northern Lakes    015    002    0    —    8    12    3 

Gavin Wienker, Grady Stinson (6), James Morast (7) and Mason Perkins; Jace Taylor, Jake Larcher (3), Ethan Pecor (5), Tanner Van Tassel (5) and Jace Cooksey. 

HITS: Pra — Howard 3, Wienker, Berger, Olson, Perkins, Morast. NL — Tamagni, Brennan, Taylor 2, Ellwood, Wylie, Pecor 2, Cooksey, Lenz, Larcher, Van Tassel. 2B — Howard 2, Ellwood, Van Tassel, Cooksey. 3B — Lenz. 

NORTHERN LAKES 22, COEUR d’ALENE 2, 5 INN. 

Northern Lakes    107    59    —    22    16    3 

Coeur d’Alene    000    20    —    2    4    5 

Game called after 5 innings due to 10-run rule. 

Ryker Brennan and Jace Cooksey; JD Davenport, Maddix Whitten (2), Tristan Martin (3), Justin Fagan (4), Will D’Orazi (5) and Colten Nordman. 

HITS: NL — Tamagni 2, Brennan 2, Taylor 2, Wylie 2, Pecor 3, Cooksey 2, Lenz, Van Tassel 2. Cd’A — Fagan 2, Nordman, Togiailua. 2B — Brennan. 

CLASS A AREA A TOURNAMENT 

At Thorco Field, Coeur d’Alene 

Thursday’s Games 

Moscow Blue Devils 11, Orofino Merchants 2 

Northern Lakes Mountaineers 15, Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen 1

Lewis-Clark Cubs 14, St. Maries Savages 1 

Prairie Cardinals 18, Moscow Blue Devils 3 

Friday’s Games 

Northern Lakes Mountaineers 11, Lewis-Clark Cubs 2 

Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen 12, St. Maries Savages 2 (loser out)

Lewis-Clark Cubs 18, Orofino Merchants 5 (loser out) 

Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen 14, Moscow Blue Devils 11 (loser out)

Saturday’s Games 

Prairie Cardinals 13, Northern Lakes Mountaineers 8 (semifinal)

Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen 13, Lewis-Clark Cubs 12 (loser out)

Northern Lakes Mountaineers 22, Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen 2, 5 inn. (loser out)

Sunday’s Games 

Game 12 — Prairie Cardinals vs. Northern Lakes Mountaineers, 10 a.m. (championship game) 

Game 13 — Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 1 p.m. (if necessary) 

• AA

Lums win two 

at Pacific tournament

FOREST GROVE, Ore. — Dylan Cook struck out seven over 5.1 hitless innings for Coeur d’Alene, which limited Merchants Elite of Kirkland, Wash., to one hit in a 2-0 win in the Pacific Prospect Series at Pacific University. 

Zach Boucek singled with two outs off Coeur d’Alene reliever Wyatt Riske in the seventh inning. 

“Our pitchers have been doing a great job this weekend,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jim Allison said. “As the season goes on, they’re starting to understand what we’re trying to do and what we’ve been reminding them about.” 

Coeur d’Alene scored both of its runs on back-to-back walks to Travis Usdrowski and Jack Pierce in the top of the third inning. 

Later, Usdrowski hit the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a grand slam to end the game in the sixth inning as the Lumbermen defeated the TC Spartans of Benton City, Wash., 11-3 to improve to 3-0 in the tournament. 

“We’ve been playing really well,” Usdrowski said. “The pitcher left a fastball up and my eyes went big. I just turned on it and watched it fly.” 

Tanner Franklin hit a two-run double in the fifth inning and Kyle Johnson finished with two RBIs for Coeur d’Alene (24-18), which faces 503 Baseball of West Linn., Ore., in a semifinal game today at 4:30 p.m. 

The championship game is scheduled for 7. 

COEUR d’ALENE 2, MERCHANTS ELITE 0 

Coeur d’Alene    002    000    0    —    2    5    0 

Merchants Elite    000    000    0    —    0    1    1 

Dylan Cook, Wyatt Riske (6) and Tanner Franklin; JD Tenhulzen, Obie McCormick (7) and Arhant Das. 

HITS: Cd’A — Holecek, Pierce 2, Franklin, Adams. ME — Boucek. 2B — Pierce. 

COEUR d’ALENE 11, TC SPARTANS 3 

TC Spartans        001    002    —    3    13    1 

Coeur d’Alene    000    254    —    11    10    0 

Game called with 1 out in bottom of 6th inning due to 8-run rule. 

Levi Marlow, Ryker Harris (3), Logan Dickhaus (5), Kason Stradford (6) and Isaac Roe; Vinny Lapresta, Asa Morton (5) and Tanner Franklin, Hunter Avriett (6). 

HITS: TCS — L. Stradford 2, K. Stradford, Dickhaus, Marlow 2, Ortiz, Harris, Lechuga 2, Gonzales, Coers. Cd’A — Holecek 2, Johnson 3, Usdrowski 3, Franklin, Lund. 2B — Lechuga, Dickhaus, Holecek, Lund, Franklin, Usdrowski. HR — Usdrowski.