STATE 6A SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT: Lake City gets one before bowing out

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

COEUR d’ALENE — They were tears of finality, yes, but also tears of accomplishment. 

“I’m just proud of how far we’ve come; proud of each of my teammates,” Lake City senior catcher Kyla Smith said Friday afternoon, after a 9-0 loss to Owyhee of Meridian at Coeur d’Alene High’s Larry Schwenke Field ended the Timberwolves’ season in a tie for fifth place at the state 6A softball tournament. “Sad that our journey came to an end, but proud of the culture that we’ve built.” 

Earlier Friday, Lake City bounced back from a heartbreaking loss Thursday to Thunder Ridge of Idaho Falls by beating Capital of Boise 5-3 in a loser-out game. 

It was the T-Wolves' first victory at state since 2019, the last time Lake City made it to state.  

“I’m really proud of the girls, and proud of the fight, and how we came back after that first disappointing loss,” fourth-year Lake City coach Jordyn Hensley said. “It was generally such a fun team to be around, and they did a lot of things that nobody expected them to. It was just exciting to be here, and have an opportunity to compete this late in the season.”

Against Capital, sophomore Tabitha Lopez gave Lake City five strong innings in the circle. Junior Madeline Peterson came on in the sixth and struck out five in two scoreless innings. 

Sophomore Macy Waterhouse went 3 for 4 with three RBIs for the Timberwolves.  

In the fourth, after Lopez singled in Alexandria “Lou” Bracy, who had tripled, for a 2-1 Lake City lead, Waterhouse followed with a two-run triple. 

After Capital pulled to within 4-3, Waterhouse delivered an RBI single in the sixth. 

Senior Karsyn DeMent drove in a run with a single in the first. 

Capital finished 16-11. 

“It means an immense amount of joy,” said Smith, who was brought up to varsity during her freshman season. “Getting to be among the top five teams in the state, it’s a really good feeling, especially after my past four years here. It was a really good feeling, no matter what the outcome was. Getting to state for at least three games was a really cool opportunity.”  

“Just the ability to say, we’re one of the top six teams in the state, that’s a huge accomplishment,” Hensley said. 

Lake City then took on Owyhee, winners of two of the last three state titles, but was coming off a 2-0 loss to Highland of Pocatello. 

The Storm stormed out to a 5-0 lead after one inning. 

“We just had that one bad inning, when we let them get some bunts on, and got some people moving around,” Hensley said. “Just little things that they took advantage of, and we didn’t shut down.” 

Lake City managed just three hits against Owyhee junior Hailey Brennan, who struck out 13 and walked two. She also went 3 for 3 with a solo homer in the fifth and a pair of run-scoring doubles. 

“Just having some girls that have experienced state, and have made it to postseason, that’s going to be big in setting goals for our next season, and working hard to get here again,” Hensley said. 

LAKE CITY 5, CAPITAL 3 

Capital     100    020    0    —    3    8    1 

Lake City    100    301    x    —    5    9    1 

Romy Turpen and Olivia Dow; Tabitha Lopez, Madeline Peterson (6) and Kyla Smith. 

HITS: Cap — Chavez 3, Turpen, Espinoza, Tessmer, Leise. LC — Waterhouse 3, Peterson, DeMent, Bracy, Lopez, Smith 2. 2B — Turpen, Chavez. 3B — Bracy, Waterhouse. 

OWYHEE 9, LAKE CITY 0 

Lake City     000    000    0    —    0    3    0 

Owyhee     520    110    x    —    9    9    0 

Madeline Peterson and Kyla Smith; Hailey Brennan and Kenadi Garrett. 

HITS: LC — Waterhouse, Kolden, Kesner. Owy — Bock, Mahaffey 2, Brennan 3, Shoemaker 2, Berg. 2B — Brennan 2. HR — Brennan. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Lake City senior catcher Kyla Smith celebrates the final out of the Timberwolves' victory over Capital of Boise at the state 6A softball tournament at Coeur d'Alene High.