North Idaho 4, Prairie 5 

SANDPOINT — A four-run first inning from the Prairie Cardinals proved to be too much for the North Idaho Lakers 16U to overcome as they dropped the second game of the Battle at the Beach tournament, 5-4, on Saturday. 

First baseman Kordale Burt was the standout for the Lakers, opening the game with an RBI single and finishing the game 2-3 from the plate. Burt’s second hit was a towering double to left field, which ignited a two-run fifth inning, giving the Lakers a chance late in the game. 

Unlike in Friday’s game, offense was hard to come by for North Idaho, racking up 10 strikeouts as a team to seven hits. Despite this, the Lakers made the most of their time on base, Brent Worley, Cody Gutierrez, Noah Langlois and Burt all stealing three bases each. 

Langlois’ electric baserunning played a key role in the fifth inning rally, executing a double steal, allowing Burt to steal home for the first of the innings' runs.   

“I am proud of the boys for going out there and battling for seven innings,” head coach Travis Tyler said. “The boys brought energy, brought the bats, brought everything they could to this game.” 

Karsen Garvin got the start for the Lakers and battled through the rough first inning to hold the Cardinals scoreless for the next three innings. He was helped by some impeccable fielding, including a missile from right fielder Gunnar Gustafson to help turn a double play at home in the bottom of the second. Garvin finished the day, allowing 11 hits, two walks and striking out three. 

Late in the game, Cy Marshall came in with the bases loaded and induced a groundout to get the Lakers out of a jam and keep the game in reach. Marshall finished off a quick inning in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to another fantastic fielding play, this time by Worley.  

With a chance in the top of the seventh, the Cardinals landed two quick outs, but a single from Max Thompson gave the Lakers a breath of hope for a potential comeback. Those hopes were quickly dashed, however, as a hard-hit fly ball from Worely was caught. 

“When you play a team five different times, already in the season, you kind of know what to expect from each other,” Tyler said. “All in all, the boys played with heart and emotion, it was a great game.” 

The Lakers will wrap up the Battle at the Beach tournament on Sunday with two games. They’ll first face the Calgary Premier Blues 16U at 9 a.m. and close out against the Tri-County Northstars A 15U at 11:20 a.m. 

North Idaho 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 — 4 7 1 

Prairie 4 0 0 0 1 0 X — 5 11 1 

PITCHING 

NI — Garvin: 4.2IP, 11H, 5R (5ER), 2BB, 3K. Marshall: 1.1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K. PC — Holding: 6.2IP, 6H, 4R (4ER), 1BB, 10K. Still: 0.1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K. 

BATTING 

HITS: NI — Burt 2, Worley 1, Langlois 1, Wholschlager 1, Gutierrez 1. 2B — Burt 1. PC — Veith 2, Still 2, Anello 1, Holding 1, Fitzpatrick 1, Roberts 1, Trueman 1, Jenkins 1. RBI: NI — Burt 1. PC — Roberts 2, Anello 1, Trueman 1, Vieth 1. 

North Idaho 3, Calgary 4 

SANDPOINT — A late rally nearly lifted the North Idaho Lakers 16U over the eventual Battle at the Beach champions, Calgary Premier Blues 16U, on Sunday. 

Bonners Ferry’s Kordale Burt’s bat stayed hot after his standout day on Saturday, hitting a double, the team’s only extra-base hit, in the top of the seventh to score a run and cut the Blues’ lead to two. He finished the day 1-3 from the plate with that RBI and was scored once; he was one of two Lakers to not strikeout on the day as well. 

Burt not only excelled behind the plate, but on the mound. The Badgers star got the start for North Idaho, holding the Blues to just one run in 4.2 innings while walking six and striking out four batters. 

Lakers head coach Travis Tyler said he was super proud of how his team battled and stayed with the top team in the tournament. Going into the game, Calgary was utterly dominant, scoring 49 runs and giving up only three runs. 

“That team can hit, score runs and to take a one-run loss was in a win in our books,” Tyler said. “After the game, we told our boys that hitting is contagious and we got one more game, [so] let’s keep the bats alive.” 

North Idaho 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 — 3 4 1 

Calgary 0 0 1 0 0 3 X — 4 6 0 

PITCHING 

NI — Burt: 4.2IP, 4H, 1R (0ER), 6BB, 4K. Burrows: 1.1IP, 2H, 3R (3ER), 2BB, 1K. CB — Swan: 6.0IP, 4H, 3R (3ER), 1BB, 10K. 

BATTING 

HITS: NI — Burt 1, Worley 1, Langlois 1, Garvin 1.  2B — Burt 1. CB — Harding 2, Dastou 2, Montoya 2. RBI: NI — Burt 1, Worley 1, Garvin 1. PC — Dastou 2, Joyes 1, Montoya 1. 

North Idaho 7, Tri County 5 

SANDPOINT — The North Idaho Lakers 16U were able to do exactly what head coach Travis Tyler wanted, keeping their bats alive and winning the final game of the tournament in five innings. 

Once again, Bonners Ferry’s Kordale Burt led the way for the Lakers with two of the team’s eight hits. Burt’s lone RBI of the day came during the Lakers’ opening inning, on a single to center. North Idaho scored three runs in the top of the first, with an RBI from Drake Burk and an error that helped Burt score. 

Tri County didn’t go away easily, jumping on starter Brent Worley in the first inning. The Northstars singled three times in the first, scoring two runs. Worley worked his way out of the jam with two swinging strikeouts to maintain the Lakers’ narrow lead. 

After a quick second inning for North Idaho, Worley found himself back in the hot seat with two walks to open the bottom of the second. Max Thompson came in relief for Worley and got out of the inning after inducing a double play, made by shortstop Noah Langlois. 

Thompson finished out the game for the Lakers, only giving up one more run and striking out three batters to keep the Northstars at bay.  

The Lakers’ excellence on the basepaths was a persistent theme throughout the tournament and helped them once again. Four players: Cody Gutierrez, Burk, Burt and Langlois stole two bases each. Langlois was a problem for opposing teams all weekend, stealing home for the second time in four games. 

Ultimately, a two-run fifth inning built off singles was enough to seal the game, helping the Lakers move up to third place in the Battle at the Beach standings off run differential. 

“All in all, the boys finished out the weekend on a high note,” Tyler said. “I hope to see this team from Sunday on Wednesday versus Prairie.” 

North Idaho will be back in action on Wednesday, June 17 at War Memorial Field for a doubleheader against Prairie. The first pitch for the opening game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and the second game is set to start at 7:30 p.m. 

North Idaho 3 0 1 1 2 — 7 8 0 

Tri County 2 2 1 0 X — 5 5 3 

PITCHING 

NI — Worley: 1.0IP, 3H, 4R (4ER), 3BB, 3K. Thompson: 3.0IP, 2H, 1R (1ER), 2BB, 3K. TC — Covey: 4.0IP, 8H, 8R (7ER), 1BB, 5K. Black: 0.2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 1K. 

BATTING 

HITS: NI — Burt 2, Langlois 2, Burk 1, Wood 1, Gutierrez 1, Garvin 1. TC — Covey 1, Fouts 1, Diaz 1, Tobeck 1, Verment 1. RBI: NI — Burt 1, Worley 1, Burk 1. TC — Diaz 1, Tobeck 1, Verment 1. 

    Kordale Burt high-fives teammate Kyler Wood after stealing home in the fifth inning of the North Idaho Lakers' tough loss on Saturday afternoon.