STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENTS: Coeur d'Alene drops opener when Eagle rallies

6A 

MERIDIAN — The Coeur d’Alene Vikings nearly pulled off their second state softball first-round upset in as many years Thursday afternoon. 

Sixth-seeded Coeur d’Alene led 2-0 until the third-seeded Eagle Mustangs connected on two home runs in a span of three batters in the bottom of the sixth inning and went on to defeat the Vikings 4-2 at Owyhee High. 

Coeur d’Alene (18-3) will play No. 2 Timberline (18-5) today at 8 a.m. PDT at Owyhee High in a loser-out game in the double-elimination tournament. 

After junior Ellie Henderson walked with two outs in the second inning, senior Leah Nordman hit a two-run homer to give Coeur d’Alene a 2-0 lead.  

With one out in the sixth, Peyton Bargen homered to center field to bring Eagle (18-5) to within a run. Emry Woods singled to center, and Alyssa Orchard homered to right to give the Mustangs the lead. Eagle scored its fourth run of the inning on a Viking error. 

Sophomore Jenna Davenport struck out nine in 4.2 innings of relief for Coeur d’Alene, which managed just three hits in the game. 

“We had over double the strikeouts (nine) against Eagle and they only struck out only four of us so we hit the ball well — it’s just one of those games where you hit the ball at people and not into the gap,” Coeur d’Alene coach Bobbi Darretta said. “So at least we can hold our heads high going into the next game tomorrow.”

Last year Coeur d’Alene, as the eighth seed, knocked off top-seeded Owyhee in a first-round game at Post Falls High. 

Coeur d’Alene     020    000    0    —    2    3    2 

Eagle    000    004    x    —    4    5    0 

Leah Nordman, Jenna Davenport (2) and Ollie Dudley; Sophia Giles, Peyton Bargen (2) and Emry Woods. 

HITS: Cd’A — Burke, Bridge, Nordman. Eagle — Bargen, Woods, Orchard, Thoreson 2. 2B — Thoreson. HR — Nordman, Bargen, Orchard. 

4A 

Weiser 7 

Timberlake 2 

NAMPA — The sixth-seeded Tigers led 2-1 until the third-seeded Wolverines erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in the state tournament first-round game at Skyview High. 

Timberlake (15-4) got on the board first on Jesi Kitchin’s sacrifice fly in the first inning which scored senior Marissa Needs, who led the game off with a double. 

Freshman Prestyn Gardner’s solo homer in the fifth put the Tigers up 2-0, before Weiser came back with a run in the bottom half. 

In the sixth, an RBI double by Ellie Shirts of Weiser tied the game at 2. Two batters later, Bennett Torres connected on a three-run home run to right field to break the tie.  

Natalya Hoobery singled in a run, then scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 7-2.  

Freshman Shae Jones struck out eight, walked one and allowed six hits for Timberlake. 

Madi Janicek of Weiser fanned 11, walked one and yielded two hits. 

Timberlake will face No. 7 Preston (16-11) in a loser-out game today at 8 a.m. as the double-elimination tournament continues. 

Preston lost 23-1 to No. 2 Cole Valley Christian on Thursday. 

Timberlake    100    010    0    —    2    2    2 

Weiser     000    016    x    —    7    6    1 

Shae Jones and Taylor Bentley; Madi Janicek and Bennett Torres. 

HITS: TL — Needs, Gardner. Wei — Shirts, Torres, Navarrete, Hoobery 2, Mordhorst. 2B — Needs, Shirts, Navarrete. HR — Gardner, Torres.