TRI-CITIES — The North 16U/18U were able to snag their first win since June 27 in the final of five games in the Sluggers and Dingers tournament over the weekend. 

Explosion Sams 9, The North 1 (5) 

TRI-CITIES — A stellar outing from Bailey Wilson kept The North 18U close until two grand slams by the USA Explosion Sams 18U doomed them in the first game of the tournament on Saturday morning. 

Sandpoint High's rising junior, Wilson, delivered three near shutdown innings from the circle. Across 12 batters, Wilson allowed one run on two hits and struck out two batters. 

While Olympic College's Arah Stevens and Marlee Stevens both singled in the first, The North struggled to generate offense in the first three innings, not scoring any runs. Arah Stevens's walk in the fourth was quickly followed by a walk taken by Rylee Arrotta, who helped score The North's lone run of the game. 

Ryelle Short, who was subbed in as the courtesy runner for Stevens, stole second and eventually found her way home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1.  

The Sams didn't waste time taking their lead back with a leadoff double, helping to load the bases for Trista Peterson. On the first pitch of her at-bat, Peterson launched the ball over the left field wall for a grand slam and gave the Explosion Sams a 5-1 lead. 

After a quick out, the Sams loaded the bases once again with Maddy Rickson driving the ball over the right field wall for the team's second grand slam of the inning. The eight-run deficit was too much for The North to battle back from, and they dropped the first game 9-1. 

The North 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 4 1 

Explosion Sams 1 0 0 8 X — 9 7 0 

PITCHING 

TN — B. Wilson: 3.0IP, 2H, 1R (0ER), 3BB, 2K. M. Stevens: 1.0IP, 5H, 8R (8ER), 5BB, 0K. ES — Sturm: 5.0IP, 4H, 1R (1ER), 2BB, 9K.  

BATTING 

HITS: TN — A. Stevens 1, M. Stevens 1, Pierson 1, Burgess-Duquette 1. ES — Peterson 2, Buchmann 2, Tampien 1, Rickson 1, Barcus 1. HR — Peterson 1, Rickson 1. RBI: TN — None. ES — Peterson 4, Rickson 4. 

Angels 9, The North 1 (5) 

TRI-CITIES — A late RBI double from Priest River High's McKinley Burgess-Duquette was the lone run The North tallied in their 9-1 loss to the WA Angels 18U on Saturday afternoon. 

Marlee Stevens delivered two shutdown innings before the Angels got on the board with an RBI single and a two-run home run to make it 3-0. The Angels continued to add on in the fourth inning, thanks to three errors by The North, extending their lead to 8-0. The North ended the game with six errors, which allowed the Angels to score nine runs on just three hits. 

Burgess-Duquette's double was one of The North's two hits of the game, knocking in Arah Stevens, who reached on an error. Two quick strikeouts ended The North's offensive momentum, sealing their fate in the second of three games on Saturday. 

The North 0 0 0 0 1 — 1 2 6 

Angels 0 0 3 5 1 — 9 3 2 

PITCHING 

TN — M. Stevens: 4.0IP, 3H, 8R (3ER), 2BB, 3K. B. Wilson: 0.1IP, 0H, 1R (1ER), 1BB, 0K. WA — Hurley: 5.0IP, 2H, 1R (0ER), 1BB, 11K.  

BATTING 

HITS: TN — A. Stevens 1, Burgess-Duquette 1. 2B — Burgess-Duquette 1. WA — Kolden 1, White 1, O'Leary 1. HR — O'Leary 1. RBI: TN — Burgess-Duquette 1. WA — O'Leary 2, White 1. 

Palouse 6, The North 3 (5) 

TRI-CITIES — The North hit two home runs in a close battle with the Palouse River Wranglers 18U on Saturday night. 

Arah Stevens launched the team's first in the opening inning. The Olympic College commit skied the ball over the left field wall to drive in Marlee Stevens and gave The North their first lead of the tournament, 2-0. Arah Stevens finished the day 2-2 with a home run and a single. 

The River Wranglers battled back, taking advantage of a bases-loaded error to take the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the second.  Bailey Wilson got the start in the circle and limited Palouse's attack, striking out two through two innings and allowing three runs. 

To open the fourth, Sandpoint High's Ryelle Short connected on a pitch for The North's second home run of the game, tying it at three runs apiece. However, The North failed to capitalize on the momentum and failed to keep up with the River Wranglers. 

Palouse's bats got hot in the fourth, cobbling together four singles and an error to score three runs and seal the game.  

The North 2 0 0 1 0 — 3 7 3 

Palouse 1 2 0 3 X — 6 7 1 

PITCHING 

TN — B. Wilson: 2.0IP, 3H, 3R (1ER), 1BB, 2K. M. Stevens: 2.0IP, 4H, 3R (2ER), 2BB, 3K. RW — Akesson: 5.0IP, 7H, 3R (3ER), 1BB, 6K.  

BATTING 

HITS: TN — A. Stevens 2, Short 1, M. Stevens 1, Turnbull 1, Pierson 1, Falck 1. HR — A. Stevens 1, Short 1. RW — Bell 2, Akesson 1, Sanford 1, Wolfe 1, Booth 1, Kapofu 1. RBI: TN — A. Stevens 2, Short 1. RW — Bell 2, Booth 1, Kapofu 1. 

Explosion-Bicondova 4, The North 3 (6) 

TRI-CITIES — The North couldn't hang onto an early lead as they were walked off by the USA Explosion-Bicondova 18U squad in the first of their two games on Sunday. 

Marlee Stevens wore a pitch to open the game before becoming the first run for The North, off an error committed by Bicondova. Ariana Turnbull pulled a double to left field, extending The North's early lead to 2-0. 

Stevens pitched the entire game from inside the circle, notching a quality outing of five and two-thirds innings and striking out five. She held Bicondova scoreless in the first, second and third innings, including fanning Maryn Broker to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the second.  

The North took advantage of and added to their lead thanks to Jaydin Falck and another Bicondova error. 

In the fourth, Bicondova struck back with a hard-hit single, driving in Abi Perkins, who walked to open the inning. Another single, this time from Ellie McLaughlin, narrowed The North's advantage to just one, 3-2.  

Stevens bounced back in the fifth, getting help from Arah Stevens, who worked a double play in the infield to negate another walk and single. However, the walk bug bit Marlee Stevens painfully in the final inning of the game. 

A walk put the tying run on first, which was driven in two batters later by Amelia Smith. Then it was a four-pitch bases-loaded walk that sealed a walk-off win for Bicondova and a bitter defeat for The North 

The North 2 1 0 0 0 0 — 3 3 2 

Bicondova 0 0 0 2 0 2 — 4 5 2 

PITCHING 

TN — M. Stevens: 5.2IP, 4H, 4R (4ER),8BB, 5K. EB — Downing: 2.0IP, 3H, 3R (0ER), 1BB,1K. Zimmerman: 4.0IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 8K. 

BATTING 

HITS: TN — Turnbull 1, B. Wilson 1, Falck 1. 2B — Turnbull 1. EB — Smith 2, Meliah 1, Solimani 1, McLaughlin 1. RBI: TN — Turnbull 1. EB — Smith 2, McLaughlin 1, Zimmerman 1. 

The North 7, North Idaho 2 

TRI-CITIES — A crafty day on the basepaths from Rylee Arrotta and Marlee Stevens lifted The North over the North Idaho Chaos 18U in the final game of the Sluggers and Dingers tournament on Sunday afternoon. 

For the third game in a row, The North notched two runs in the first inning. However, instead of a home run or hit, these runs came from stolen bases with Stevens and Arotta both stealing home while Arah Stevens was at the plate to give them a 2-0 advantage. Arotta would go on to steal four bases in this game, while Marlee Stevens notched three more stolen bases. As a team, The North swiped 12 bags against the Chaos. 

At the plate, Arotta and McKinley Burgess-Duquette got things rolling again in the next inning before Ryelle Short launched a double to left field to extend the team's lead to 4-0.  

Hannah Frago and Heather Stumm continued to pour on the pressure in the fourth, being driven in by two groundouts to give The North their largest lead yet at 6-0. 

The North put Bailey Wilson in the circle for this game, and that proved to be the right call. Wilson threw the complete six-inning game, striking out seven of the 21 batters she faced and allowing just three hits. Though an error allowed North Idaho to strike twice against her, she remained unfazed and threw a dazzling sixth inning, striking out the last two batters of the game swinging. 

The tournament's result leaves The North at 6-10-2 on the season. They'll close out their season this weekend at the Summer River Bash in Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene. That tournament opens with a showdown with the Reapers Softball 18U on Friday night at 5 p.m. 

The North 2 0 2 2 1 0 — 7 6 1 

North Idaho 0 0 2 0 0 0 — 2 3 2 

PITCHING 

TN — B. Wilson: 6.0IP, 3H, 2R (0ER), 1BB, 7K. NI — Hemmah: 6.0IP, 6H, 7R (6ER), 6BB,5K.  

BATTING 

HITS: TN — M. Stevens 1, Short 1, A. Stevens 1, Pierson 1, Frago 1, Arrotta 1. 2B — Short 1. NI — Lund 1, Fleck-Fry 1, Lopez 1. RBI: TN — Short 1, Falck 1, Burgess-Duquette 1. NI — Salsbury 1.