NAMPA — In search of a spark down 6-0 to the Eagle Mustangs 18U, the Sandpoint Sasquatch 17U turned to the one player who had been mashing at the plate: Sandpoint High rising junior Daniel Holman. 

With one out, Holman swung and missed the first two pitches, putting him at a precarious 0-2 count. However, with the next swing of the bat, he wouldn't miss. The ball screamed through the sky as Holman rounded the bases, ultimately landing safely at third for yet another massive triple for the Sasquatch. 

Finally gathering momentum, Sandpoint needed to capitalize and cut into Eagle's lead. Yet, the next batter struck out swinging on just four pitches. The next batter quickly followed, waving his bat as the ball found the glove of the Mustangs' catcher to end the inning.  

It was that kind of day for the Sasquatch, who dropped the first game of the Northwest Nazarene 18U Classic 14-2 on Thursday afternoon.  

As a team, the Sasquatch struck out 15 times in their 30 at-bats, which limited what they were able to do with runners on base. 

Priest River High's Broden Collins was the other engine of the offense for Sandpoint, getting two hits on the day. Collins' first knock, a double in third, was the first of the day for Sandpoint.  

Collins and Holman combined for half of the Sasquatch's hits and were the only ones who gathered multiple hits in the game.  

It wasn't until the bottom of the sixth that Sandpoint strung together a sequence of hits to drive in some runs. The rally started with Mason Roberts hitting a one-out single, who was quickly followed by Sandpoint High's Chase Miller hitting another single to move him into scoring position. 

Holman's second hit of the day drove in Roberts from second to break the ice and give Sandpoint its first run. A wild pitch and a single from Austyn Young drove in Miller, who became the Sasquatch's second and last run of the game. 

Despite the lack of offense, the Sasquatch were not out of the game until the final inning, when the Mustangs drove in six runs.  

Dominic Cervantes, of Middleton High School in Southern Idaho, got the start on the mound for Sandpoint. Cervantes worked through the first two innings relatively cleanly, but got caught up in the third inning, giving up four runs before he was pulled in favor of his Middleton High teammate Jake Bertelli-Salem. 

Bertelli-Salem delivered a calming presence to the mound, going three and two-thirds innings, only giving up three runs and striking out five batters. Brennan Wyman and Erik Hansen came in to finish the game in the ill-fated seventh, with Hansen ending the game with two strikeouts and only giving up one hit. 

The Sasquatch also played the ISB 18U squad on Thursday night, however the game did not finish before our print deadline. A full recap will be joined with the Friday game from the tournament in Saturday's paper. 

Sandpoint is set to close out the season at the NNU tournament with a game on Friday and Saturday.  

Eagle 0 1 4 1 0 2 6 — 14 12 2 

Sandpoint 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 — 2 8 1 

PITCHING  

SP — Cervantes: 2.1IP, 5H, 5R (4ER), 3BB, 3K. Bertelli-Salem: 3.2IP, 5H, 3R (3ER), 2BB, 5K. Wyman: 0.0IP, 1H, 3R (3ER),1BB, 0K. Hansen: 1.0IP, 1H, 3R (3ER), 3BB, 2K. EM — Kaufman: 3.0IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 6K. Strand: 4.0IP, 7H, 2R (2ER), 0BB, 9K. 

HITTING 

SP — D. Holman 2, Collins 2, Roberts 1, Miller 1, Young 1, Bogadi 1. 2B — Collins 1. 3B — D. Holman 1. EM — Pindroh 2, Rust 2, Priest 2, Stewart 1, Totoricaguena 1, Zins 1, Hosch 1, Wolfe 1, Sholeff 1. 2B — Rust 1. RBIs: SP — D. Holman 1, Young 1. EM — Zins 2, Gosch 2, Priest 2, Palace 1, Stewart 1, Rust 1, Totoricaguena 1, Pindroh 1, Wolfe 1, Sholeff 1.