PREP BASEBALL: Lake City, Coeur d'Alene split

COEUR d’ALENE — Coeur d’Alene and Lake City each got what they needed on Tuesday. 

The Timberwolves got a big 6A Inland Empire League win in the opener, 8-5.

The Vikings gave themselves a shot to have the 6A District 1 tournament run through Ted Page Field with a 9-3 victory in the nightcap.

In the opener, Lake City took the lead for good on an error to make it 5-3 in the top of the fifth inning, and went on to beat the Vikings. The Timberwolves extended the lead on a bases-loaded walk to junior Logan Strimback and a sacrifice fly by junior James Morast to make it 7-3, as part of a seven-run inning. Morast struck out four in the opener. 

“James had a great game on the mound,” Lake City coach Gil Pierce said. “He did a good job of being able to locate his pitches and keep hitters off balance. He competed all seven innings and he’s given us some great outings and really did a great job.” 

Senior Gavin Helms hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh for Coeur d’Alene. 

“We couldn’t string hits together when we needed to,” Coeur d’Alene coach Brandon Williams said. “When you have five errors, teams are going to pounce on that.” 

In the second game, Coeur d’Alene scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, then scored three runs in the sixth for the split. 

Senior Beckett Larson hit a go-ahead RBI single to make it 4-3, and junior Jackson Hackett followed with an RBI double to give the Vikings a 5-3 lead.  

Senior Vinny Paliotto allowed one hit in four innings of scoreless relief in the second game for Coeur d’Alene (8-6, 5-2 5A IEL), which visits Post Falls (9-8, 5-2) in the completion of a suspended game on Friday at 4 p.m. The game was suspended April 7 after six innings with the score tied at 12. The winner will be the district champion, and advance to the best-of-3 championship series. 

“It’s all right in front of us now,” Williams said. “We’ve got two losses and they’ve got two losses. But we feel good about the group of guys we have.” 

Lake City (5-15, 1-7) faces the loser between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene in a loser-out game on Saturday. 

“We’ve got another game to play,” Pierce said. “If we can put seven innings together like we did today, and compete, good things can happen.” 

FIRST GAME 

Lake City    010    070    0    —    8    8    0 

Coeur d’Alene    002    100    2    —    5    9    5 

James Morast and Logan Strimback; JD Davenport, Asa Morton (5), Tucker Ackerman (5) and Hunter Chambers. 

HITS: LC — Strimback 2, Morast, Slife 2, Adams 2, Chaffin, Parson. Cd’A — Helms 2, Fenter, Cook, Foulk, Hackett, Chambers, Stevens 2. 2B — Slife, Cook, Hackett, Chambers. HR — Helms. 

SECOND GAME  

Lake City    120    000    0    —    3    6    1 

Coeur d’Alene    101    043    x    —    9    12    0 

Noah Childress, Aven Adams (5) and Ethan Stach; Tyler Kernkamp, Vinny Paliotto (4) and Colten Nordman. 

HITS: LC — MacNiven 2, Strimback, Noffke, Childress, Everson. Cd’A — Helms 2, Fenter 3, Cook 2, Togiailua, Larson, Hackett, Pickens, Stevens. 2B — Togiailua, Helms, Hackett, Fenter, Cook. 

Post Falls 18 

Lakeland 9 

RATHDRUM — Senior Caden Reese went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and senior Ayden Carrasco had four hits, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Trojans in a nonleague win over the Hawks at Gorton Field. 

“As we’re getting down to the stretch, we’re getting better with our approaches at the plate,” Post Falls coach Kurt Reese said. “We had a lot of guys hitting the ball really well.” 

Seniors Bryce Berger, Mike O’Connor and Brandon Felix also had two RBIs each for Post Falls (9-8), which finished with 18 hits. 

“It was nice to see that many hits,” Kurt Reese said. “It really helped our confidence going forward.” 

Post Falls was scheduled to face Coeur d’Alene in the completion of a suspended game today at 4 p.m., with the winner finishing as the 6A Inland Empire League’s top seed to the District 1 tournament. That game has since been moved to Friday due to anticipated rain today.

The loser will host Lake City in a loser-out game Saturday. 

Junior Nate Bevacqua had four hits and three RBIs for Lakeland (8-8), which hosts Sandpoint in a 5A Inland Empire League doubleheader on Thursday. 

Post Falls    303    603    3    —    18    18    2 

Lakeland    103    300    2    —    9    12    2 

Gavin Wienker, Caden Reese (4), Karl Berend (5) and Brandon Felix, Noah Houser (4); Luke Knight, Austin Smith (3), Jake Larcher (7) and Nate Bevacqua.  

HITS: PF — Wienker, A. Carrasco 4, Berger 2, O’Connor 3, Tomlinson, Berend 2, Beyer, Reese 2, Felix 2. LL — Tamagni 3, Taylor 2, Bevacqua 4, Puzio, Averitt, Byrd. 2B — A. Carrasco, O’Connor 2, Berger. 2B — Byrd, Bevacqua. 

Timberlake 14-13 

St. Maries 4-3 

SPIRIT LAKE — Sophomore Dane Perkl hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning, then followed with an RBI triple to cap a nine-run inning as the Tigers beat the Lumberjacks in the first game of a nonleague doubleheader at John Shaffer Field. 

Junior Gage Hines doubled to score senior Tanner Van Tassel in the fifth inning for Timberlake. Senior Eric Wylie struck out eight in the opener for Timberlake (11-8). 

In the second game, Haines went 4 for 4 with five RBIs as at the Tigers completed the sweep. Van Tassel had three RBIs and Wylie scored four runs in the nightcap. 

Harlen Baker hit a two-run single in the third inning for St. Maries (3-9). 

Timberlake hosts Bonners Ferry in an Intermountain League doubleheader on Friday. 

St. Maries travels to Orofino on Friday. 

FIRST GAME 

St. Maries    004    00    —    4    2    5 

Timberlake    130    91    —    14    13    5 

Game called with one out in bottom of 5th inning due to 10-run rule. 

Gavin Durham, Jordan Hammons (5) and Santana Jensen; Eric Wylie and Gaige Haines. 

HITS: SM — Nantell, S. Jensen. TL — Brennan 2, Perkl 2, Wylie, Van Tassel, Haines 2, Tenney 2, Horn, Shively 2. 2B — Haines, Wylie, Horn, Tenney. 3B — Perkl.  

SECOND GAME 

St. Maries    012    00    —    3    3    2 

Timberlake    532    3x    —    13    8    2 

Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule. 

Kris Brusseau, Matthew Siron (2) and Will Durham; Ethen Blansfield, Tanner Van Tassel (4) and Gage Haines.  

HITS: SM — Lingo, Durham, Baker. TL — Brennan, Wylie, Beardsall, Van Tassel, Haines. 2B — Haines.