Gosch Makes Up For His Blunder

Garrett Gosch’s emotions ran full circle on Saturday afternoon at McEuen Field in Coeur d’Alene.

The Lake City senior went from heel to hero for the Timberwolves baseball team.

A two-out, seventh-inning throwing error by Gosch, who was pitching, let Coeur d’Alene snatch a 6-5 victory from Lake City in the first game of the Inland Empire League doubleheader.

And in a wild second game, it was Gosch who drove in the Timberwolves’ go-ahead run for an 8-7 decision.

“It felt good,” Gosch said after hitting the gamewinner. “Through all these games, I’ve been real relaxed and that made it real easy.”

Lake City coach Cory Bridges said Gosch’s blunder was a common one.

“With the bases loaded and nobody out, you get two tough outs and it happens at every level, (the pitcher) totally relaxes, pretty soon before you know it, you throw it away,” Bridges said.

Which is exactly what happened to Gosch (1-1) in the opener.

A pair of unearned runs pulled Coeur d’Alene even with Lake City at 5-5 in the fifth, and the Vikings went down in order in the sixth.

In the seventh, CdA’s Mike Dorame’s long double put the potential game-winner on base with one out. Intentional walks to cleanup batter Jesse Hoorelbeke and Nick Groth loaded the bases.

The Timberwolves forced Dorame’s courtesy runner Jason Rook out at home on a fielder’s choice play for the second out. David Goodwin then grounded back to the pitcher’s mound. Gosch grabbed the ball, but his throw sailed over first baseman Chuck Shriner and Hoorelbeke scored.

“I let out a sigh of relief when (Shriner’s) ball was hit, and I had it,” Gosch said. “I choked. After the game I was a little frustrated.”

Gosch (1-1) threw a four-hitter, struck out four and walked six.

Hoorelbeke (3-1) wound up the winner, relieving Mark Scates in the fourth. Lake City got one of its four hits off Hoorelbeke, who fanned three and walked one.

The Timberwolves lost pitcher Kurt Ramsrud for not only the second game, but perhaps the season, in the first inning of the opener.

Playing third base, Ramsrud fractured a finger on his left hand during a tag-out play.

The Timberwolves used three relievers with Shriner (1-0) logging the win.

Lake City forged a 7-2 lead after three innings. The Timberwolves ripped four of their nine hits in the first inning, including a lead-off solo home run by Ryan Scharnhorst on the first pitch of the game.

Coeur d’Alene chased Lake City starter Wayne Bryant and reliever Juan Godinez from the mound during a fifth-inning rally that tied the game at 7.

Seven of the Lake City runs were unearned, including the game-winner.

“We handed it to them,” Mather said. “Once again there’s seven errors. If you’re going to play ball like that you’re going to lose games.

“They know it. We’ve talked about it,” Mather added. “It’s just a matter of getting it done.”

Lake City and Coeur d’Alene are both 4-6 in league and each returns to IEL play Tuesday. The Timberwolves (6-11) travel to Sandpoint. The Vikings (9-8) visit Post Falls.

At Sandpoint, Lewiston clinched no worse than a tie for the IEL championship with a doubleheader sweep.

The Bengals posted 3-0 and 13-4 wins over the Bulldogs at Memorial Field. The victories moved Lewiston to 10-2 in league and 14-5 overall.

Sandpoint (4-6) slipped into a four-way tie for second with CdA, Lake City and Post Falls. The Bulldogs are 8-8 overall.

Lewiston’s Adam Gomez outdueled Sandpoint’s Mike Lindgren (4-2) in the opener. Both of Lindgren’s losses have been to Lewiston.

Marshall Evans singled and stole two bases before scoring on a wild pitch in the fourth inning for Lewiston in the opener. Evans added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

In the nightcap, Lewiston jumped all over Sandpoint, pounding 18 hits. Stacy Brood led the hit parade with a three-run homer.

At Wallace, the Miners had little trouble improving their record to 11-2 while sweeping a doubleheader against Lakeside in games between A-3 independents.

The Miners won 11-1 and 13-0, outhitting their foe 20-3.

John Heyn went 3-for-3 with three RBIs in the opener and Ryan Nipp was 3-for-3 with three RBIs in the second game. Jeremy Delaney had two hits, including a homer, in game two.

Softball

The Lakeland Hawks took a major step toward the Intermountain League softball title.

In a doubleheader between first- and secondplace teams, Lakeland (7-0, 12-4) came away with 10-3 and 8-3 wins over St. Maries (4-2, 9-2) in Rathdrum on Saturday.

Lakeland scored early, leading 6-1 after three innings, highlighted by Jessica McBride’s two-run triple in the third.

Winning pitcher Monica Hall struck out nine and allowed only two hits while walking seven.

In the second game, McBride hit her second triple of the day and drove in two more runs, finishing 4-for-7 in the two games.

Pitcher Jenifer Borg pitched a two-hitter for the win.

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