Trojans, Hawks, Tigers gearing up for new season
In any other year, the Post Falls High baseball team probably would have qualified for the State 5A tournament last season.
But last year wasn’t a typical season. The eventual state champ (Lake City) and runner-up (Lewiston) came from the Inland Empire League.
Post Falls’ season ended in a 3-1 loss to Lewiston in the Region I tournament. The Trojans led 1-0, until Lewiston took advantage of three walks to win.
Post Falls hopes to be competitive with Lake City and Lewiston this year. But those teams return most of their starters.
Here’s a look at Post Falls, Lakeland and Timberlake:
Post Falls
The Trojans (10-17 overall, 6-12 IEL), who return seven starters, graduated their top three pitchers. And their fourth-best pitcher decided to turn out for golf.
“They had all of our wins except one,” Post Falls coach Mick Zeller said.
Ben Dunlow, a junior, had the Trojans’ other victory. He spent most of the season as the ace on the junior varsity. The right-handed Dunlow and left-handed senior Zack Aker will be Post Falls’ top two pitchers going into the season.
Aker was the Trojans’ No. 3 pitcher last year before he suffered an appendicitis attack just before spring break. He missed the rest of the season. He also was the Trojans’ No. 3 hitter at the time. When he’s not pitching he will split time at first base and right field.
Right-handed pitchers Nikk Reinhardt and Cole Amende, both juniors, also figure into the mix on the mound. Reinhardt split time as the Trojans’ starting quarterback in football and Amende, a starting linebacker, just finished a standout season in wrestling. He placed third at state.
When they’re not pitching, Reinhardt will be a utility infielder and Amende will see time at catcher.
Zeller is hoping the Trojans can practice for the first time on their field this week. Post Falls was scheduled to open at home on Saturday in a doubleheader against Moscow, but it was moved to Lewiston.
Although his team hasn’t been outside, Zeller sees defense as being the team’s strength.
“That will have to be our strength at this point,” Zeller said. “We’ve looked good on the mound, but it’s all been indoors.”
In addition to Akers, the Trojans’ other returning starters are: seniors Brandon Brubaker (left field), Nathan Douglas (second base/shortstop), Randy Hamilton (center field) and Jesse Weeks (catcher/rhp) and juniors Brett Winn (second base/ss) and Travis Ries (catcher).
“I think we’ve got some guys who can swing it,” Zeller said.
Zeller knows it’s going to be difficult for his team to challenge Lake City and Lewiston.
“This is the toughest league in the state when you’ve got the state champ and the state runner-up,” Zeller said. “They’ll be every bit as tough as last year. It’s definitely going to be an uphill battle. One of our goals last year was to be competitive. I thought we did that. Now we need to win some games.
“We don’t have the shutdown pitchers like we did last year. We’ll have to score and play defense behind our pitchers. We’ll have our bumps and bruises. We’ll need to be more consistent at the plate.”
Lakeland
The 4A Hawks (6-19, 1-15) finished at the bottom of the IEL last year. That shouldn’t happen again this season.
Lakeland should compete with Sandpoint and Moscow for the lone 4A state berth. The Hawks return nine lettermen, including seven starters.
The top returning starter is senior shortstop Scott Carr, who will have a handful of options to play in college. The three-sport standout and second team all-IEL selection led Lakeland in hitting (.427) last year.
The other returning starters are seniors Kyle Vandever (second base), Ryan Burnett (lhp/first base), C.J. Schelin (catcher), Cory Rohrenbach (rhp/outfield), Gil South (rhp/of) and Chance Long (third base/rhp).
Burnett, Rohrenbach and South were Lakeland’s top three pitchers last year.
“I’m looking for my pitchers to do some damage,” Lakeland coach Jason Bradbury said. “They’re not going to be overpowering. They each throw about 80 miles per hour. They’re going to have to hit their spots and change speeds.”
They did so in Lakeland’s season-opening 8-5 win at Clarkston last Saturday as they each pitched two innings. They combined for nine strikeouts and allowed no walks.
“If our pitchers are on and we score runs, we’ll do fine,” Bradbury said. “We’ll have some guys who make good contact at the plate – guys who can put the ball in play. We’ll need to do the little things right.”
Timberlake
The Tigers (5-20, 4-8 in the Intermountain League) finished fourth out of five teams in league last year. But there’s reason for optimism in Spirit Lake.
Timberlake returns 11 lettermen including six starters.
Senior Jason Edwards, an all-league selection last year, returns at third base. The Tigers’ other returning starters are senior Josh Eastin (of), juniors Marshall Barnhouse (lhp/first base), Ty Wilkerson (rhp/first base) and Cody Perez (catcher) and sophomore Derek Tymesen (second base/rhp).
Barnhouse and his brother, Mitchell, a senior, along with Wilkerson, Tymesen and sophomore Kyle Overland (rhp/ss) give the Tigers depth on the mound.
An added bonus is the addition of seniors Levi Powers, Josh Malloy and Josh Goodman. They were contributors last year on Timberlake’s state title track team. They opted not to turn out for track and try baseball. All three are vying for spots in the outfield.
“We have a lot of competition in the outfield,” second-year coach Bill Rider said. “They give us ridiculous speed. We have a lot of athletic ability.”
Timberlake’s top three hitters from a year ago return in Edwards (.396), Eastin (.355) and Tymesen (.304). Tymesen hit .441 the last 10 games, tops on the team, to raise his average considerably after a slow start.
Timberlake not only should be in the hunt for one of the league’s two state berths, but the Tigers also see themselves in the race for the league title.
“We’re extremely excited,” Rider said. “For a bunch of kids that have been stuck in the gym for more than two weeks, they’re really motivated. They’re going to be fun to watch.”