GIRLS LACROSSE

Sandpoint 15, Richland 8

SANDPOINT — Molly Sloan scored a game-high eight goals on just 11 shots, including her 40th goal of the season, and won a game-high six draw controls as the Lady Bulldogs finished out the regular season with a 6-2 record after a WSGL Eastern Division victory over the Bombers on Saturday night at War Memorial Field.

After a senior night celebration and some first-quarter jitters, Sandpoint, expecting a close matchup with Richland due to the teams' similar results against league opponent Gonzaga Prep, settled down and started executing. 

Senior Tess Sloan added three goals, including her 20th goal of the season, and dished out a team-high two assists while senior Grace Gavin netted two goals, picked up a team-high five groundballs, and caused a game-high three turnovers for Sandpoint, which eventually got out to a 10-4 halftime lead. 

Senior Cecilia Dignan chipped in a goal and an assist during just one quarter of play. The Lady Bulldogs were short-handed for three quarters as senior Reina Montecchi and Dignan left to attend the 64th Annual North Idaho Hall of Fame banquet in Coeur d'Alene.

In the absence of the two, Liv Freer returned from injury to score her first career goal and goalie Medea Moon stepped up in between the sticks and posted a game-high 11 saves. 

"She probably had her best game of the season," Sandpoint High head coach Nancy Dooley said of Moon. "She is now clearing consistently to the 50-yard line and stopped some really good, hard shots."

Senior Summer Loutzenhiser and Leah Clark controlled the low corners, which was key on the defensive side of the ball.

"We did get hit a bit in the middle of the 8-meter with Richland sending multiple cutters through," coach Dooley added. "Luckily Medea had those strong stops which held them to eight goals despite a ton of shots."

Coach Dooley said her squad boasts an impressive group of seniors that will go on to do amazing things.

"We will miss these seniors who have made huge contributions to our team this year," coach Dooley continued. "They have not only performed exceptionally well on the field, but they have done a great job of being role models and leaders for the team all season long."

Richland 3 1 3 1 — 8

Sandpoint 5 5 4 1 — 15

GOALS: SPT — M. Sloan 8, T. Sloan 3, Gavin 2, Freer 1, C, Dignan 1. RIC — Hartsfield 2, Judge 2, A. Marlowe 1, Cleary 1, Ansingh 1, Walk 1.

ASSISTS: SPT — T. Sloan 2, C. Dignan 1, Gavin 1, Luttmann 1, RIC — Walk 2, Trappett 1, Judge 1.

GROUND BALLS: SPT — Gavin 5, Luttman 3, Sherman 2, T. Sloan 2, M. Sloan 2, Cox 2, Clark 1, Baker 1, C. Dignan 1, Argrabrite 1, Leiser 1. RIC — Walk 5, Stafford 3, Hartsfield 3, Trappett 2, Black 2, B. Marlowe 2, Kreutz 1, Beus 1, C. Douglas 1, Ansingh 1, Higbee 1

SAVES: SPT — Moon 11. RIC — Stafford 3.

BASEBALL

Medeiros throws five-inning no-hitter

Sandpoint 18, Moscow 0 (5)

MOSCOW — Senior Sage Medeiros threw 47 of his 63 pitches for strikes and whiffed nine batters across five scoreless innings on the bump en route to his eighth win of the year, and the Bulldogs scored in every inning in a shutout of the Bears during the opener of a 5A Inland Empire League doubleheader held Saturday at Moscow High.

Junior Brennan Shaw, who had two stolen bases, led the way at the plate with a 3-for-5 effort that included his first career home run — a three-run shot to left field in the first inning — to go along with an RBI double and a two-run single for Sandpoint, which compiled 17 hits in total.

Medeiros also had three hits, including a pair of RBI singles, and junior Jack Schriber registered a two-run single and an RBI double. Seniors Mason Little and Parker Reichart, who had four runs scored, each doubled and had two hits apiece while junior Carson Resso smashed an RBI double of his own in the winning effort. Senior Dallen Williams rounded out Sandpoint's productive outing with a pair of singles and three runs scored.

Seven of Medeiros' nine strikeouts were swinging for Sandpoint, which saw the right-hander force three consecutive swinging strikeouts during the second frame.

Oliver Castillo struck out four batters over 2.2 innings in relief for Moscow, which committed four errors.

Sandpoint 5 3 4 2 4 — 18 17 0

Moscow 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 4

PITCHING

SPT — Medeiros (W): 5IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 9K. MOS — Barton (L): 2.1IP, 10H, 12R (9ER), 3BB, 1K. Castillo: 2.2IP, 7H, 6R (6ER), 3BB, 4K.

BATTING

HITS: SPT — Schriber 3, Shaw 3, Medeiros 3, Williams 2, Reichart 2, Little 2, Miller 1, Resso 1. MOS — None. 2B — Shaw, Resso, Schriber, Little, Reichart. HR — Shaw. RBI: SPT — Shaw 6, Schriber 3, Medeiros 2, Williams 1, Caprio 1, Resso 1. MOS — None.

Bulldogs tie single season wins record with sweep

Sandpoint 14, Moscow 4 (6)

MOSCOW — Senior Parker Reichart went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, three RBIs in total, and a pair of RBI singles and then struck out two batters over 1.1 no-hit innings in relief as the Bulldogs tied the Sandpoint High single season wins record (18) with a season and series sweep of Moscow during the nightcap of Saturday's 5A Inland Empire League doubleheader at Moscow High.

Senior Dallen Williams knocked a pair of RBI doubles, senior Coleman Inge smacked a double, a two-run single and had three RBIs in total, and junior Carson Resso belted a double and had a multi-hit effort of his own for Sandpoint, which scored eight runs in the second inning to break things open.

Senior Sage Medeiros had two hits as well, including a two-run single, as did senior Soren Caprio, who doubled. On defense, the Bulldogs turned two double plays, one on a fielder's choice during the second frame and another in the first when they forced a groundout to first base, and after the play, Resso fired to Caprio at third, tagging out a runner attempting to advance.

Junior Brennan Shaw was credited with his first official win of the season on the rubber, fanning three batters and allowing just two runs over four innings of work.

Connor Perry had an RBI single for Moscow (3-13), which will return to Sandpoint (18-2) on Friday for a 5A District 1-2 loser-out game at 12 p.m. at War Memorial Field. No. 2 Lewiston (17-7) will face No. 3 Lakeland (8-10) at 2 p.m. at the same location. The winners of each matchup will face off in the district championship game at 4 p.m. that same day.

Sandpoint is currently riding a 10-game winning streak, outscoring opponents 137-19 during that stretch.

Sandpoint 0 8 3 1 1 1 — 14 14 3

Moscow 0 1 0 0 3 0 — 4 3 5

PITCHING

SPT — Shaw (W): 4IP, 2H, 2R (2ER), 2BB, 3K. Day: 0.2IP, 1H, 3R (3ER), 3BB, 0K. Reichart: 1.1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 2K. MOS — Rigney (L): 3IP, 10H, 11R (5ER), 2BB, 1K. O'Donnell: 3IP, 4H, 3R (3ER), 1BB, 0K.

BATTING

HITS: SPT — Reichart 3, Williams 2, Medeiros 2, Caprio 2, Resso 2, Inge 2, Little 1. MOS — Perry 1, Hawley 1, Mallett 1. 2B — Williams 2, Resso, Caprio. RBI: SPT — Reichart 3, Williams 3, Inge 3, Medeiros 2, Resso 1. MOS — Fealy 1, Perry 1, Zollinger 1, Poler 1.

St. Maries 4, Priest River 1

ST. MARIES — Junior Brayden Elder struck out six batters and allowed just one earned run across six quality innings on the mound as the Spartans fell to the Lumberjacks in the opener of 3A Central Idaho League doubleheader held Saturday at St. Maries High.

Elder also singled, as did juniors Broden Collins and Karsen Garvin, and sophomore Layton Goins had a career-high five stolen bases for Priest River, which was outhit 6-3 in the contest. The Spartans scored their lone run in the fifth, when Goins stole home.

William Durham recorded eight strikeouts over six innings in his start on the mound and Daniel Jensen was 2-for-3 with a two-run double for St. Maries, which scored three of their four runs with two outs in the second inning.

Priest River 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 3 2

St. Maries 0 4 0 0 0 0 X — 4 6 2

PITCHING

PR — Elder (L): 6IP, 6H, 4R (1ER), 5BB, 6K. SM — Durham (W): 6IP, 3H, 1R (0ER), 4BB, 8K. Lingo (S): 1IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 1K.

BATTING

HITS: PR — Elder 1, Collins 1, Garvin 1. SM — Jensen 2, Lingo 2, Baker 1, Brusseau 1. 2B — Jensen. RBI: PR — None. SM — Jensen 2, Brusseau 1.

Priest River 15, St. Maries 5 (5)

ST. MARIES — Sophomore Jacob Best reached double-digit strikeouts for the third time this year as he fanned 10 batters across five innings on the mound, and the Spartans bounced back with a run-rule win over the Lumberjacks in the second game of Saturday's 3A Central Idaho League twinbill at St. Maries High. 

Junior Broden Collins led the way in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with a two-run double, an RBI single and a sacrifice fly. The Spartans also got multi-hit efforts from sophomore Layton Goins, who had an RBI double, from junior Brayden Elder, who had a two-run single and four runs scored, and from junior Karsen Garvin, who had an RBI single and a double of his own. Best also contributed a 2-for-3 effort that included both an RBI single and an RBI double as Priest River tallied 10 runs between the fourth and fifth frames and outhit St. Maries by a 13-3 margin.

William Durham and Harlen Baker had back-to-back RBI singles in the first inning for No. 4 St. Maries (4-11), which will travel to No. 1 Orofino (17-3) to open up the 3A District 1-2 tournament on Wednesday.

Junior Triston Wikum got in on the action with a pair of singles for No. 2 Priest River (12-4), which will host No. 3 Kellogg (4-16) in the first round of the 3A District 1-2 tournament on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the fields at Priest River Junior High.

Priest River 4 1 0 4 6 — 15 13 4

St. Maries 2 2 0 0 1 — 5 3 4

PITCHING

PR — Best (W): 5IP, 3H, 5R (2ER), 4BB, 10K. SM — Jensen (L): 4IP, 10H, 12R (10ER), 5BB, 6K. Lingo: 1IP, 3H, 3R (2ER), 0BB, 0K.

BATTING

HITS: PR — Collins 3, Goins 2, Elder 2, Best 2, Garvin 2, Wikum 2. SM — Nantell 1, Durham 1, Baker 1. 2B — Collins 2, Best, Garvin, Goins. RBI: PR — Collins 4, Best 2, Elder 2, Garvin 2, Goins 1, Findley 1, Baldwin 1, Berns 1. SM — Durham 1, Baker 1, Blackwell 1.

SOFTBALL

Lewiston 12, Sandpoint 10 (8)

SANDPOINT — Sophomore Bailey Wilson went the distance in the circle as she recorded eight strikeouts, including the 80th of her career, but the Lady Bulldogs were defeated in extra innings during the opener of a 5A Inland Empire League doubleheader held Saturday at War Memorial Field.

Trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Avery Inge connected for a two-out, two-run single and senior Cadence Skibitsky scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat to close the gap to one run. Wilson and Skibitsky then hit back-to-back RBI doubles, and Skibitsky scored the go-ahead run on an error to give the Lady Bulldogs a 6-5 advantage after four innings were all said and done.

Sandpoint, down 8-6, scored via a groundout and a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh, but the Lady Bengals eventually took a 12-8 lead in extras and held on for the victory.

Darby Litchfield and Ava Thorson had a home run and a double each and combined for six RBIs for Lewiston, which is 6-12 on the year.

Sophomore Arianna Turnbull, following an Inge double, added another RBI triple to her totals in the bottom of the eighth before Lewiston recorded the inning's third out. 

Sophomore Marlee Stevens had two hits, including a double, and three runs scored for Sandpoint batting in the leadoff position. Skibitsky, who had several impressive diving catches on the day, added three runs scored of her own and two stolen bases to the stat sheet.

Lewiston 0 3 1 0 1 0 3 4 — 12 11 1

Sandpoint 0 0 0 3 3 0 2 2 — 10 7 6

PITCHING

SPT — Wilson (L): 8IP, 10H, 12R (5ER), 3BB, 8K. LEW — Robins: 4.2IP, 4H, 6R (5ER), 1BB, 8K. Jordan (W): 3.1IP, 3H, 4R (3ER), 1BB, 2K.

BATTING

HITS: SPT — Inge 2, M. Stevens 2, Wilson 1, Skibitsky 1, Turnbull 1. LEW — Thorson 3, Litchfield 2, Thayer 2, Johnson 2, Luthy 1, Arellano 1. 2B — Inge, Wilson, Skibitsky, M. Stevens, Thorson, Litchfield, Thayer, Arellano. 3B — Turnbull. HR — Thorson, Litchfield. RBI: SPT — Inge 2, Wilson 2, Skibitsky 1, A. Stevens 1, Turnbull 1. LEW — Thorson 5, Johnson 2, Luthy 2, Arellano 1, Litchfield 1.

    Sandpoint High sophomore left-handed pitcher and first baseman Bailey Wilson lays down a slap hit during the second game of the Lady Bulldogs' doubleheader against Lewiston on Saturday at War Memorial Field.

Lady Bulldogs hold off Lady Bengals for split

Sandpoint 4, Lewiston 3

SANDPOINT — Junior Teagan Newsom went 2-for-3 with a two-out RBI single in the first inning, senior Cadence Skibisky started off the contest's scoring with an RBI triple — her sixth three-bagger of the season — and the two fueled the Lady Bulldogs to season and series split with a one-run win over the Lady Bengals in the nightcap of Saturday's 5A Inland Empire doubleheader at War Memorial Field.

Sophomore Bailey Pierson chipped in an RBI single to stretch the Lady Bulldogs' lead to 3-1 and freshman Jazzy Thompson, who recorded her first career varsity hit in the win, hit home her first career RBI via a groundout to give Sandpoint an insurance run in the fourth, which proved crucial.

Marlee Stevens grabbed her fifth win of the year on the rubber as she struck out eight batters across seven innings of work. The standout sophomore, just like in game one, compiled two base hits in game two, including a double.

"They had to come back and really fight," Sandpoint High head coach Leah Platt said. "Extra innings can really take it out of a team. They stayed focused and did everything one pitch, one hit at a time. I'm very proud of their fight, determination, and willingness to go out and leave it all on the field for each other."

Senior Arah Stevens doubled, as did sophomore Avery Inge, and sophomore Bailey Wilson singled for Sandpoint (9-11), which outhit Lewiston by a 10-9 margin. The Lady Bulldogs will finish out the regular season Tuesday with a 6A/5A Inland Empire League doubleheader at Post Falls.

Lewiston 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 — 3 9 2

Sandpoint 2 0 0 2 0 0 X — 4 10 1

PITCHING

SPT — M. Stevens (W): 7IP, 9H, 3R (3ER), 0BB, 8K. LEW — Jordan (L): 3IP, 6H, 4R (4ER), 0BB, 0K. Robins: 3IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 3K.

BATTING

HITS: SPT — Newsom 2, M. Stevens 2, Wilson 1, Skibitsky 1, A. Stevens 1, Inge 1, Pierson 1, Thompson 1. LEW — Thayer 2, Hernandez 2, Arellano 1, Johnson 1, Fisbeck 1, Erbst 1, Scoville 1. 2B — Inge, A. Stevens, M. Stevens, Scoville, Erbst, Thayer. 3B — Skibitsky. RBI: SPT — Skibitsky 1, Newsom 1, Pierson 1, Thompson 1. LEW — Johnson 1, Hernandez 1, Fisbeck 1.

TENNIS

Rickert cruises to No. 1 singles title in straight sets

SPOKANE — She really is that good.

Junior Pepper Rickert put on a show at the 79th Annual Inland Empire Tennis Tournament held this past Friday and Saturday at multiple venues throughout the Greater Spokane Area.

Rickert, who is now an undefeated 63-0 on her career, cruised to three wins on Friday, all by scores of 6-0, 6-0, and then won both her semifinals and championship matches by 6-0, 6-0 margins as she claimed the No. 1 girls singles title at what is considered to be the largest high school tennis tournament in the country.

"Pepper responded by playing her best tennis this season; she served up a total shutout," Sandpoint High head coach Kent Anderson said, noting a large crowd had formed for the junior's matches. "The finals was quite a show as Pepper battled the best player she’s seen this season. Even though the score was 6-0, 6-0, there were plenty of great, strategic points. The crowd was in awe. It was by far the best match of the year."

Umbi Petito, playing in the No. 2 boys singles bracket, earned a third-place medal, and Louie Reale and Tanner Western placed fourth in No. 3 boys doubles in what coach Anderson said was the duo's best showing of the season.

Veronica Kramer & Paityn Zimmerman were fourth at No. 2 girls doubles. The pair won four straight matches on Friday, all of which were over two hours long, before losing in a third-set tiebreaker during Saturday's third-place match.

"What an astounding performance by these two," coach Anderson said. "It was an honor to coach them."

Amelia Poulsen and Lily Evans, playing at No. 1 girls doubles, and Porter Jensen and Zayda Ambauen, playing at No. 2 mixed doubles, finished runner-up in their respective consolation brackets for Sandpoint, which placed sixth out of 58 scoring teams.

Sandpoint (6-2-2) will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to Moscow for their final 5A Inland Empire League matchup of the regular season.

    Sandpoint High junior Pepper Rickert shows off the gold medal she won after cruising to the No. 1 girls singles title at the 79th Annual Inland Empire Tennis Tournament held Friday and Saturday throughout the Greater Spokane Area.