THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Ol’ No. 82 headed to the Big House

It was early in the fourth quarter of Post Falls High’s blowout win over Lake City in 2022. 

A backup quarterback entered the game, took a few snaps, but wasn’t listed on the varsity roster given us for the game — at least by that number. 

He was No. 82. I needed his name for the box score. We didn’t want to say in the paper that No. 82 threw the ball x times for x yards, though sometimes that happens when we can’t track down a kid’s name. 

“Hey,” I screamed at No. 82, after the game, as the Trojan players milled around on the field, and I there trying to track down a Post Falls player and the head coach for an interview. “What’s your name?” 

“Matthew Ludwig,” the big kid replied. 

Ahhh ... 

I had heard of a kid at Post Falls named Ludwig, only a freshman at the time, but also that he was already a really good athlete with a bright future. 

And now I could see why — with his size and his speed. 

(In that Lake City game, by the way, No. 82 (Ludwig) did not carry the ball in limited duty, but was 1 of 5 passing for 5 yards, and an interception. And he actually was on the roster, I discovered later, as No. 19.) 

As it turned out, his freshman year was his last at Post Falls. 

He and his family moved to Billings, Mont., for family reasons (Google him if you want to know all the details), and he became a standout three-sport athlete at Billings West High. 

On Tuesday, Matt Ludwig, now a junior, verbally committed to play football at the University of Michigan, picking the Wolverines over other college football heavyweights such as Notre Dame and Georgia. He’s a top-100 recruit nationwide, and one of the top tight ends overall. 

Hmmm ... 

A big kid with Idaho ties going to Michigan to play tight end.

That worked out pretty well for Colston Loveland from Gooding High, who won a national championship with the Wolverines, and in April was the 10th overall pick in the NFL draft, by the Chicago Bears. 

It will be fun to follow what ol’ No. 82 does in Ann Arbor over the next few years. 

AFTER WINNING its first 12 games this season, the Coeur d’Alene High softball team finally suffered its first loss — to city rival Lake City — on April 22. 

That’s because the winning pitcher for Lake City, sophomore Madeline Peterson, has been part of Miss Pitch, a company owned and operated by Darretta that trains area youth softball pitchers, since she was 9 years ago. 

“Bittersweet, really,” Darretta said of watching her team lose to a pitcher she trains in the offseason. 

Darretta was the star pitcher on Lake City’s 2001 state championship team. She went on to pitch at Walla Walla Community College, and at the University of Kentucky. 

Peterson isn’t alone. 

In addition to Peterson, and her own pitchers at Coeur d’Alene High, Darretta has worked with several other high school pitchers in North Idaho, past and present, since returning to the Lake City seven years ago, when she started her pitching business, and took over as head coach of the Vikings. 

Those pitchers include Shae Jones of Timberlake, Mia Kesner of Lake City (formerly of Lakeland), Rylan Morrison and Reagan Larson of Post Falls, Raygen and Reese Dutton of Lakeland, and Hailey Robins of Lewiston. 

So there have been, and will be in the future, games where Darretta and Coeur d’Alene are trying to beat a pitcher that, in the offseason, Darretta is training to beat a team such as hers. 

That’s OK, she says. 

Better softball pitching in North Idaho makes every team — including hers — better. 

Even if it comes with the occasional “L.” 

“I know my purpose is to empower young women,” Darretta said. “I believe God put a softball in my hand to do it.” 

YOU HAD to feel a bit for Coeur d’Alene’s softball and baseball teams last weekend. 

Both went two and out, but ... 

The Viking softball team lost a pair of one-run games, to Eagle and to Timberline of Boise — games in which Coeur d’Alene led heading into the bottom of the sixth inning both times. 

Coeur d’Alene’s baseball team also dropped a pair of one-run games in the new four-team 6A Championship Series at state, to Middleton and to Owyhee of Meridian.  

Against Middleton, the Vikings battled back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game at 5, only to give up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth and lose 6-5. 

The next day, Coeur d’Alene lost to Owyhee 2-1 on a suicide squeeze with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh. 

Coeur d’Alene has been a regular at state softball, with 13 appearances in the championship game since Idaho went to fastpitch in 1995, including five state titles.  

The Vikings’ last appearance in the championship game was in 2015.  

But with just two seniors graduating, and the bulk of the returnees with the experience of multiple trips to state under their belts, there’s a chance that drought could end in the next year or two. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.