PREP BASEBALL: Lake City walks off with IEL title over Coeur d'Alene

COEUR d’ALENE — To Lake City coach Mike Criswell, it was a little unexpected.

Not the outcome so much, but how it happened in the first game of an Inland Empire League doubleheader with Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday at Lake City High.

Avrey Cherry hit a walk-off single in the opener as the Timberwolves rallied from a 6-0 deficit after two innings to beat the Vikings 8-7 in eight innings, despite the Timberwolves — who clinched its second straight league title with the win — committing nine errors.

“We’re happy with the win and title, but to commit nine errors, we weren’t expecting it to come to that,” Criswell said. “I’m glad we play seven innings and our pitching really held us in there. Both Nate (Weatherhead) and Kyle (Johnson) really kept us in it on the mound and we just chipped back into it.”

Owen Field and Blake Foulk had two RBIs each in the opener for Coeur d’Alene, which scored six runs in the second inning and led 7-1 in the fifth inning.

“It was a good start in the first game, and we just coasted after that,” Coeur d’Alene coach Erik Karns said. “Against a good team like Lake City, you’ve got to fight for each pitch.”

In the nightcap, Ty Shepard scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a Cooper Smith single to give Lake City a 3-2 lead. Cooper Reese, who has signed with New Mexico State, had eight strikeouts in four innings for the Timberwolves. Charlie Dixon did not allow a hit in the final three innings for Lake City.

“Cooper really kept them off balance and Charlie (Dixon) came in and closed it out,” Criswell said. “Our coaches have done a great job with our pitchers this year. But if we’re going to make some noise next week, we’ve got to play a lot better in the field.”

Lake City (16-5, 13-4 IEL) faces Post Falls in the conclusion of a suspended game on Thursday at 3 p.m. The game will resume in the top of the sixth inning.

Coeur d’Alene (14-9, 11-7) will be the second seed to the 5A Region 1 tournament, and host an opening round game on Monday at 4 p.m. at Ted Page Field.

FIRST GAME

Coeur d’Alene    060    010    00    —    7    6    1

Lake City    000    124    01    —    8    11    9

Harrison Trunkey-Evans, Zeb Blattstein (6) and Chase Saunders; Nate Weatherhead, Kyle Johnson (5) and Cooper Smith.

HITS: Cd’A — Field 2, Fenter, Trunkey-Evans, Foulk, Coey. LC — Shepard, Dannenberg, Smith 2, Holecek, Cherry 2, Dixon, Reese, Moore 2. 2B — Field, Dannenberg, Smith 2. HR — Reese.

SECOND GAME

Coeur d’Alene    010    100    0    —    2    6    1

Lake City    000    120    x    —    3    5    1

Tyler Voorhees, Bam Fenter (4), Trevor Rodda (6) and Chase Saunders; Cooper Reese, Charlie Dixon (5) and Cooper Smith.

HITS: Cd’A — Saunders 2, Coey 2, Christ 2. LC — Usdrowski, Cherry, Holecek, Johnson. 2B — none. 

Lewiston 11

Post Falls 9

POST FALLS — Gabe Diamond had two hits and four RBIs for the Trojans, who fell to the Bengals in an Inland Empire League game at Post Falls High.

The second game of the scheduled doubleheader never started due to darkness approaching, and was rescheduled for today at 3 p.m.

Austin DeBoer had a double and scored three runs for Post Falls (10-8, 7-8 IEL).

“We just struggled to find the strike zone on the mound in the last two innings,” said Post Falls coach Kurt Reese. “Our bats have been sporadic in the last few weeks and our biggest issues has been consistency all season. Lewiston did a good job of fighting through the entire game and we got into a mode of coasting.”

Brighton Schumacher had two hits and three RBIs for Lewiston (12-9, 9-8), which can lock up the third seed to regionals with a win today.

Lewiston    102    040    4    —    11    8    5

Post Falls    420    002    1    —    9    6    3

Zack Bambacigno, Cody Ray (6) and unknown; Austin DeBoer, Kaleb Gadley (4), Jackson George (6), Kyler Cooley (7), Caleb Jimerson (7), Danny Davoren (7), Perkins (7) and unknown.

HITS: Lew — Green, Krasselt, Phillips 2, Topp 2, Schumacher 2. PF — DeBoer, Ziegler, Morrison, Austin, Diamond 2. 2B — Green, Phillips, Topp, DeBoer.

St. Maries at 

Kellogg, ppd., rain

OSBURN — The Central Idaho League doubleheader was postponed due to rain and rescheduled for today starting at 2 p.m. at Morehouse Field.

    MARK NELKE/Press Somewhere among his teammates, Avrey Cherry of Lake City is congratulated after his walk-off base hit in the eighth inning of the first game Tuesday vs. visiting Coeur d'Alene.