PREP SOFTBALL: Coeur d'Alene moves one win from state ... Vikings down Lake City in opener of best-of-3 series for 6A district title; Lakeland loses heartbreaker in 5A regional title game

COEUR d’ALENE — It was a close game — until it wasn’t. 

After the second-seeded Lake City Timberwolves scored six runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 7-5 lead, the top-seeded Coeur d’Alene Vikings responded to score 12 runs in its next three at-bats to win 17-7 in six innings in Game 1 of a best-of-3 series for the 6A District 1 softball title Tuesday at Coeur d’Alene’s Larry Schwenke Field. 

Game 2 is Thursday at 4 p.m. at Lake City. Game 3, if necessary, would be Saturday at noon at Coeur d’Alene.

The winner claims the district’s lone berth to state May 15-17 at Eagle and Owyhee high schools in the Boise area. 

Kyndal Bridge hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the sixth to score Chloe Burke and Molly Nelson and end the game for Coeur d’Alene (17-2) on the 10-run rule. 

Nelson finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs and three runs scored, including a two-run triple in the second that boosted Coeur d’Alene’s lead to 4-1.  

Jenna Davenport’s RBI single in the third made it 5-1 Vikings. 

In the top of the fourth, Madeline Peterson doubled home a run, Brooklyn Caan hit an RBI triple and KaeLee Kolden hit a three-run homer to put the Timberwolves (16-8-1) up 7-5. 

Abbey Linder’s two-run single highlighted a seven-run fifth that put Coeur d’Alene up 14-7. 

Lake City    010    600    —    7    7    8 

Coeur d’Alene    131    273    —    17    14    3 

Game called in 6th inning due to 10-run rule. 

Madeline Peterson, Maddy Blood (4) and Alexandria Routon; Jenna Davenport, Leah Nordman (4) and Ollie Dudley. 

HITS: LC — Routon, Kolden, DeMent, Peterson, Caan 2, Blood. Cd’A — Burke, Nelson 2, Bridge 2, Linder 2, Davenport, Henderson, Nordman, Knutson, Wenglikowski, Dudley 2. 2B — DeMent, Peterson, Linder. 3B — Caan, Henderson, Bridge 2, Nelson. HR — Kolden. 

• 5A REGION 1 TOURNAMENT 

Lakeland falls in title game, but still in hunt for state bid

LEWISTON — The second-seeded Lakeland Hawks had a 7-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning in the championship game of the 5A Region 1 tournament Tuesday at Airport Park, only to see the top-seeded Lewiston Bengals (15-11) rally and walk off the Hawks in the bottom of the seventh for an 8-7 victory to earn the region’s automatic berth to state May 15-17 at Skyview High in Nampa. 

It’s Lewiston’s first regional title in fastpitch softball, which replaced slowpitch in Idaho in 1995. 

Earlier Tuesday, Lakeland beat third-seeded Moscow 16-6, and Lewiston downed fourth-seeded Sandpoint 18-3. 

Sandpoint then eliminated Moscow (7-19) with a 13-11 victory, meaning Lakeland (9-17) will play host to Sandpoint (7-19) on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the regional second-place game. 

The winner advances to a state play-in Saturday at Moscow. 

Against Lewiston, Delilah Zimmerman’s two-run single keyed a six-run second for Lakeland that opened the scoring. Abby Helmholz’s RBI single in the fifth made it 7-1. 

Lewiston scored five in the fifth and two in the sixth to tie it at 8. 

In the bottom of the seventh, the Bengals got a leadoff triple from Laila Hernandez, followed by an RBI single by Darby Litchfield, to end it. 

Against Moscow, Jaiden Corbey went 3 for 3 with five RBIs and four runs scored for Lakeland, including a two-run double in the second inning and a two-run single in the fifth. 

Raygen Dutton drove in three runs for the Hawks, Zimmerman was 3 for 4, and Ada Blakemore doubled and tripled and scored twice. 

Reagan Masters struck out eight. 

LEWISTON 9, LAKELAND 8 

Lakeland     060    011    0    —    8    8    5 

Lewiston    001    052    1     —    9    9    5 

0 out when winning run scored. 

Abby Helmholz, Reagan Masters (6), Marisa Evans (7) and Delilah Zimmerman; Jenna Barney, Beccah Hogaboam (7) and Laila Hernandez. 

HITS: LL — Blakemore, Zimmerman, Ra. Dutton 2, Dewey 2, Helmholz 2. Lew — Hernandez 2, Thorson 2, Litchfield 3, Nuxoll 2. 2B — Blakemore. 3B — Nuxoll, Hernandez. 

LAKELAND 16, MOSCOW 6 

Moscow    005    100    —    6    6    1 

Lakeland    262    141    —    16    16    4 

Game called in 6th inning due to 10-run rule. 

Ella McCallie, Hannah Robertson (5) and Madi Hennrich; Reagan Masters and Delilah Zimmerman. 

HITS: Mos — Fleishman 2, Newlan, Kiblen, Pfiffner, Dulin. LL — Blakemore 2, Corbey 3, Zimmerman 3, Drake, Ra. Dutton 2, Dewey, Re. Dutton, Helmholz, Vanek 2. 2B —Newlan, Blakemore, Helmholz, Corbey, Dutton. 3B — Blakemore.