Cda Slides Past Timberwolves

When Jesse Hoorelbeke belly-flopped through the mud toward home plate with what proved to be the winning run in the fifth inning of the second game, it was appropriate for several reasons.

One, Hoorelbeke was a primary reason why Coeur d’Alene High was able to sweep Lake City 9-6 and 5-4 in Inland Empire League baseball on Friday. Hoorelbeke was the winning pitcher in the opener and he slammed three hits, including a homer, in the second game.

Two, his mud-caked No. 40 uniform was indicative of the miserable playing conditions. A steady rain fell from first pitch to last at McEuen Field, which was perfectly suited for a monster-truck pull when the umpires called off the second game after five innings.

And three, Hoorelbeke showed aggressiveness as he took advantage of a wild pitch, forcing Lake City to make a perfect play to nail him at home. The Timberwolves, who had costly mental lapses in both games, couldn’t do so.

“Our kids played hard,” said CdA coach Paul Mather, whose club hiked its IEL record to 7-9 and, more importantly, jumped into third place ahead of the Timberwolves (6-10).

CdA will play at Post Falls (7-9) on Thursday in the double-elimination portion of the Region I Tournament. Lake City entertains last-place Sandpoint (6-10) in a loser-out contest on Tuesday.

“I didn’t think we were focused for the most part,” LC coach Cory Bridges said. “We didn’t make good decisions.”

In the opener, LC was stung by six errors, nine walks, wild pitches, two deftly placed bunts by CdA’s Jason Rook and mental breakdowns. Twice in the fifth inning, LC’s defense could have had force-outs at home, but opted for outs at other bases, allowing two runs to score.

Hoorelbeke yielded two runs in the third as the T-Wolves’ Chuck Shriner, Ryon Packard and Travis Whiteside stroked doubles. In the fourth, Hoorelbeke created his own mess with two walks and two wild pitches as LC pulled even at 4.

A Rook bunt, which hugged the third-base line, launched a two-run fifth inning and CdA into a 6-4 advantage.

Leading 9-4 in the seventh, Hoorelbeke was pulled with two LC runners on and nobody out. Junior Nathan Gray, a recent addition from the JV, gave up a pair of singles before getting a double-play grounder and a fly out.

Hoorelbeke, who had two hits in the opener, scored three runs and knocked in two in the second game. His homer was a bolt to right-center that cleared the scoreboard.

CdA took a 4-0 lead into the fourth, but LC scored three runs before Gray again came on in relief to get the third out. Gray ran into trouble in the fifth and Jeff Anstine inherited runners on first and third.

Anstine issued a walk and a groundout as LC closed to 5-4. With the bases loaded, Chris Eller struck out.

Lewiston sweeps PF

In the opener, Ryan Ries’ two-run double keyed a four-run rally as visiting Post Falls took a 6-5 lead in the seventh. But Lewiston tied it in the bottom of the seventh and won it in the eighth on Zech Manyon’s single.

The Bengals rallied in the second game, scoring two runs in the seventh to erase a 2-1 deficit. Trojans pitcher Ryan Kempton walked the bases loaded and hit Jay Wendt with a pitch to force in the winning run.