No Stretch: Rivals Happy To Do Split
High school baseball
When is a split of a high school baseball doubleheader good for both teams?
When it involves a team (Coeur d’Alene) trying to bounce back from an embarrassing weekend sweep and another team (Lewiston) that has a seemingly insurmountable lead in the chase for a league championship.
After dropping a pair of Inland Empire League games Saturday at Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene rebounded Tuesday afternoon to down longtime baseball rival Lewiston 7-3 in the opener.
The Bengals avoided a sweep that could have brought them back to the league pack when they handled the Vikings 9-4 in the nightcap at McEuen Field.
Lewiston moved to 8-2 in league and 10-5 overall while Coeur d’Alene pulled out of a last-place tie with Lake City at 3-5 and 8-7. The Bengals have a three-game lead over secondplace Sandpoint (4-4).
CdA coach Paul Mather played the second game under protest. Though his argument isn’t likely to change the outcome, Mather protested that Lewiston coach Tom Grunenfelder shouldn’t have been allowed to use a designated hitter because his lineup didn’t declare which positions his players were playing.
The umpires took the blame for not catching the error prior to the start of the second game.
The mistake had no impact on the outcome.
“We bounced back and played like we wanted to win,” said Mather, whose team lacked intensity in 3-2 and 5-2 losses at Sandpoint.
Leading by example was senior left-handed pitcher Jeff Anstine.
Anstine moved his record to 4-1 by handcuffing the Bengals. He allowed just six hits, had five strikeouts and allowed no walks.
“That was easily his most solid outing of the year,” Mather said. “That’s why I think he’s one of the best left-handed pitchers in the state.”
CdA’s Achilles’ heel - pooor defense - was apparent again Tuesday. Two of the three runs Lewiston scored in the opener were unearned, and the Viks committed six critical errors in the second game.
Miscues allowed Lewiston to open an early 2-0 lead in the opener. But CdA came back to tie it in the third inning.
The Viks gave Anstine the lead for good in the fourth with three more runs. The big hit was by catcher Mike Dorame, who drove in two runs with a triple down the right-field line.
Three runs in the top of the seventh of the second game gave Lewiston pitcher Lysandro Perez all the insurance he needed. Perez did a fine job scattering CdA’s eight hits.
Grunenfelder said CdA is his team’s toughest competition in the IEL. His team’s two losses have been to the Viks.
“They’re the team we’ve got to beat,” he said. “We needed at least a split after losing the first game because if it comes down to a tiebreaker to decide the league title we have to at least be even with Coeur d’Alene. A sweep by Coeur d’Alene today would have brought us back down to the league.”
Elsewhere: In a pair of Intermountain League contests, league-leading Lakeland topped Moscow 7-2 at Rathdrum, while St. Maries handled visiting Bonners Ferry 9-2.
Lakeland (6-0 in league) was led by the sterling pitcher of junior left-hander Brett DeBoer (5-0). DeBoer struck out 13 and allowed just one walk. He also provided the goahead run with an RBI single in the fourth.
The Hawks’ Al Bevacqua had a two-run homer. Moscow dropped to 1-2.
St. Maries, meanwhile, raised its league mark to 3-2. Bonners Ferry fell to 1-4.
In a non-league game, visiting Sandpoint got past Wallace 13-5. Ryan Knowles belted a three-run homer to lead the Bulldogs.