Prairie Reminiscent Of ‘93 State Placers

The 1996 American Legion baseball season reminds Prairie Cardinals coach Darren Taylor of 1993.

That summer, Taylor’s team finished second in the State AA Tournament, the highest finish ever by a Prairie team.

“It’s so similar, it’s starting to scare me,” Taylor said.

Just like 1993, Prairie won the District I championship by defeating Lewis-Clark in the second championship game.

Just like 1993, Prairie will open the state tournament Saturday against Idaho Falls. The teams square off in the tournament’s opening game at 9:05 a.m. at Caldwell.

A victory would pit Prairie (38-18) against the Boise Gems-Sandpoint winner in the second round on Sunday. Boise and Sandpoint meet at 12:05 p.m., immediately following the Prairie-Idaho Falls contest.

In the other two openers, Twin Falls meets Treasure Valley at 4:05 p.m. and Lewis-Clark, the 1995 state host, takes on host Caldwell, at 7:05.

Play continues through Tuesday, when the schedule calls for the championship game.

Taylor and the Cardinals head to state wanting nothing less than a state championship. They’ve placed at state each year since 1993, including third in 1994 and fourth last year.

“If we hit like we did at district, I think our pitching staff can carry us to the state title,” Taylor said. “We’re hitting consistently top to bottom in our lineup. We averaged more than 12 hits a game (at district), up three over our season average.”

Taylor’s 1993 team featured four solid starting pitchers, including former Gonzaga University standout and current San Francisco Giants minor leaguer Darrin Blood.

The 1996 Cardinals staff goes seven deep. Left-hander Brett DeBoer (4-5, 3.55 ERA) will start Saturday and he’ll be followed by Kurt Reese (8-1, 3.17) and Ryan Banks (11-2, 3.60), a pair of right-handers. From there, Taylor can go to the Medlock cousins (Jake, 5-3, 4.60, and Brad, 6-6, 3.15, nine saves), both right-handers, or left-hander Eric Singer (2-1, 3.58).

“Actually, I will use any of them in the first three games because it takes three wins to get to the championship game,” Taylor said. “We’ll do whatever we have to do in those three games.”

Second baseman Al Bevacqua (.415) leads Prairie in hitting, followed by outfielder Kevin Bridge (.380). Bridge has stolen a team-record 39 bases.

Taylor takes a seasoned team to state. DeBoer, Reese, Banks, Bevacqua, Bridge and shortstop Scott Rothrock all played on Lakeland High’s State A-2 championship team last spring.

The Cardinals have won three tournaments this season.

“We’ve groomed the team for tournaments and I think it’s paid off,” Taylor said. “And our league was tougher than it’s ever been. I think it’s prepared us well.”

Much of the state field is new. Last year’s champion (Nampa) and runner-up (Pocatello) failed to qualify.

Sandpoint (19-23) is making its second trip ever to state. The last time the Lakers went to state was 1993 - again something Taylor pointed out.

First-year Sandpoint coach David Noonan believes his team will be confident at state. Five of his players, all coming juniors, played on Sandpoint’s state championship Babe Ruth team last year.

“We’re real encouraged that we can go down and compete with those teams,” Noonan said. “Two-thirds of our team has been in state tournaments the past two years. We’ve made (motel) reservations for five nights, so why shouldn’t we be confident.”

Sandpoint has won 10 of its last 15 games during a surge from last place to earn the district’s third seed to state. Third baseman Robert Thornton, left fielder Matt Heinrichs and center fielder Shaun Warren have led the late-season charge.

, DataTimes