The North 16/18U battled through five games in the 13th annual Kate Austin in the Tri Cities, going 1-2-2 last weekend. 

The North 8, Reapers 8 

TRI-CITIES — The North tied the Mowery Reapers in a four-inning contest to open their Kate Austin tournament last Saturday, thanks to plenty of hot bats. 

Despite a slow start for The North offensively, they came alive in the third inning. The five-run inning was capped off by  2025 graduate of Troy High School, Leslie Gravier, launching a two-run double to give The North their first lead since the top of the first.  

Unfortunately, The North were their own worst enemies in this contest, committing six errors. Two of those errors came in the bottom of the third, allowing the Reapers to sneak back into the game and ultimately force the tie. 

Sandpoint High rising junior Marlee Stevens was a bright spot from behind the plate, joining Gravier with two RBIs in two plate appearances.  

Sandpoint High rising junior Bailey Wilson got the start in the circle for The North, knocking down two batters, while giving up seven hits and five earned runs in three innings. 

The North 1 1 5 1 — 8 5 6 

Reapers 3 2 3 X — 8 7 1 

PITCHING 

TN — Wilson: 3.0IP, 7H, 8R (5ER), 3BB, 2K. MR — Laramie: 3.2IP, 5H, 8R (6ER), 4BB, 5K. 

BATTING 

HITS: TN — Wilson 1, Short 1, Pierson 1, Gravier 1, Arrotta 1. 2B — Gravier 1. MR — Whitmore 1, Olmsted 1, McPhedran 1, Hull 1, Laramie 1, Epps 1, Myers 1.  RBI: TN — Gravier 2, M. Stevens 2, Pierson 1, Arrotta 1. MR — Epps 2, Laramie 1, Hull 1. 

The North 11, Sundodger 5 

TRI-CITIES — An electric seven-run third inning was enough to move The North past the Sundodger White 18U squad in their second game on Saturday. 

The North jumped on the Sundodger pitcher straight away, thanks to a single from Sandpoint High rising junior Marlee Stevens, scoring Bonners Ferry High rising junior Ryelle Short for the first of two runs in the first inning. Stevens would go on to steal second and third, before scoring on a groundout from Arah Stevens. 

2025 Sandpoint High graduate Arah Stevens got the party started in the third, blasting a double to left field and, once again, knocking in Marlee Stevens, who walked to open the inning.  

The North took advantage of an error to keep the scoring going before three singles, and two walks helped keep the runners crossing the plate. Ariana Turnbull, McKinley Burgess-Duquette and Rylee Arrotta all hit singles, with Arrotta’s knocking in Burgess-Duquette and Turnbull. 

Spencer Wilson got the start in the circle for The North and was nothing short of spectacular, fanning 11 of the 23 batters she faced. Though The North conceded five runs, none were charged to Wilson as the team committed four errors. 

Although the Sundodger offense scored two runs in the fourth, three straight strikeouts from Wilson ended the game, capping off The North’s only win of the weekend. 

Sundodger 0 1 2 2 — 5 3 1 

The North 2 2 7 X — 11 8 4 

PITCHING 

TN — S. Wilson: 4.0IP, 3H, 5R (0ER), 6BB, 11K. SD — Figgins: 3.0IP, 8H, 11R (6ER), 6BB, 2K. 

BATTING 

HITS: TN — Turnbull 2, Burgess-Duquette 2, M. Stevens 1, A. Stevens 1, Short 1, Arrotta 1. 2B — A. Stevens 1. SD — Richardt 1, Figgins 1, Paker 1.  RBI: TN — A. Stevens 2, Arrotta 2, Burgess-Duquette 1, M. Stevens 1, Gravier 1, Frago 1, Turnbull 1. SD — Parker 1. 

The North 2, Explosion Sams 2 

TRI-CITIES — The North’s offense cooled off but did just enough to notch their second tie of the day against the USA Explosions Sams 18U on Saturday. 

Explosion Sams’ pitcher Lexie McCarroll held The North batters hitless until Sandpoint High rising junior Bailey Wilson knocked a single in the fourth. Marlee Stevens notched The North’s second hit of the day, scoring Wilson and Priest River High star Heather Stumm, with two outs to tie up the game. 

Stevens was The North’s starter and pitched a stellar game, striking out six batters while walking only two. The Explosion Sams’ two runs came off a single from Millie Beito in the third, but were not charged to Stevens. 

This game was the last of three on Saturday, putting The North at 1-0-2 through the first day of the Kate Austin tournament. 

CC Devils 11, The North 3 

TRI-CITIES — The North couldn’t contain the top offense in the Kate Austin tournament, dropping their first game of the weekend to the CC Devils 18U on Sunday. 

Arah Stevens was the highlight for The North in this one, launching a triple into center field, which scored two of the team’s three runs in the fourth inning. Ryelle Short’s single got The North on the board prior to that, scoring Stumm to break the scoreless drought. 

Despite the final score, The North kept things close throughout this one, cutting the lead to just one run thanks to Stevens’ triple. In the circle, Marlee Stevens pitched a valiant three innings, holding the CC Devils to four runs on five hits and striking out three batters. 

The bottom of the fourth is where things fell apart for The North as their error-bug bit them yet again in the tournament. Three critical errors helped the CC Devils tally five runs in the fourth, putting the game out of reach. The North committed six errors in the first of Sunday’s games. 

On the offensive side, The North were never quite able to unlock the CC Devils’ pitcher Aliza Barnum, who struck out 12 batters while walking only four across the game’s five innings. 

The North 0 0 0 3 0 — 3 2 6 

CC Devils 0 2 2 5 2 — 11 11 0 

PITCHING 

TN — M. Stevens: 3.0IP, 5H, 4R (2ER), 2BB, 3K. B. Wilson: 1.2IP, 6H, 7R (0ER), 0BB, 0K CCD — Barnum: 5.0IP, 2H, 3R (3ER), 4BB, 12K. 

BATTING 

HITS: TN — A. Stevens 1, Short 1. 3B — A. Stevens 1. CCD — Miller 2, Barnes 2, Casi 2, Hunt 1, Jones 1, Korpi 1, Holter 1, Bull 1.  RBI: TN — A. Stevens 2, Short 1. CCD — Casi 3, Hunt 2, Miller 1, Barnes 1, Luce 1. 

Explosion Yakima 7, The North 1 

TRI-CITIES — 2026 Sandpoint High graduate Arah Stevens’ single was the lone hit for The North as they dropped their second game of the tournament on Sunday to the USA Explosion Yakima 18U. 

Stevens' hit in the second, generated the momentum, which helped The North score their only run of the day. An error on a double play allowed Leslie Gravier to reach second base and eventually score on a passed ball after stealing third. 

The North’s error issues continued with the team recording another five in this contest. In the bottom of the first, the team committed two errors, which allowed Yakima to score four runs. 

Sandpoint High rising junior Bailey Pierson started for The North, making it through two innings, allowing eight hits and six runs, though only two were scored as earned runs. Marlee Stevens came in following Pierson, shutting down Yakima’s offense, giving up just one run on three hits and striking out four. 

Spencer Wilson finished off the final inning doing what she did all weekend: striking out batters. Wilson fanned two of the four batters she faced, while walking only one. 

The North finished the Kate Austin tournament in 17th place, out of 26 teams, with a 1-2-2 record. The performance moves the team to 4-3-2 on the summer season. The North are scheduled to be back in action on the weekend of June 26 for the Dirty Bird Classic in Deer Park, WA. 

The North 0 1 0 0 0 — 1 1 5 

Yakima 4 1 0 0 2 — 7 11 1 

PITCHING 

TN — B. Wilson: 2.0IP, 8H, 6R (2ER), 1BB, 1K. M. Stevens: 2.0IP, 3H, 1R (1ER), 1BB, 4K. S. Wilson: 1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 2K EY— Weatherley: 5.0IP, 1H, 1R (0ER), 1BB, 7K. 

BATTING 

HITS: TN — A. Stevens 1. EY — Raphoon 2, Weekes 2, Weatherley 1, Ramynke 1, Malmberg 1, Palmateer 1, Josenhans 1, Gonzalez 1, Donaldson 1.  RBI: TN — None. EY — Ramynke 3, Palmateer 1, Gonzalez 1.