Lc, Cda Move Ahead To 5th Game

Lake City and Coeur d’Alene are headed to the State A-1 fastpitch softball tournament. But first they’ll meet for a fifth time to decide the Region I champion.

Both teams secured state berths Thursday in opening-round play of the Region I Tournament. Behind fireball pitcher Kelly Nelson, Lake City blanked visiting Lewiston 5-0, while Coeur d’Alene used two key defensive plays to stop visiting Post Falls 4-2.

CdA (13-12 overall) meets LC (22-3) at 11 a.m. Saturday at LC. At the same time at the nearby Ramsey Field complex, PF (7-17) will take on Lewiston (9-16) in a loser-out game.

The PF-Lewiston winner will earn a berth to state and play the CdA-LC loser in a seeding game for state at 1 p.m. at LC.

LC, particularly Nelson, was nearly flawless in its regional opener.

Nelson allowed a leadoff triple then promptly retired the next 19 Lewiston batters before allowing a second hit. She had 14 strikeouts.

“She was lovely,” LC coach Dwight Wilson said. “Kelly pitched probably her best game of the year, even though she gave up two hits. Her movement on the ball was phenomenal.”

Nelson and Laura Tolzmann both had run-scoring sacrifice flies in the first inning.

CdA, meanwhile, used defense to shut down the Trojans.

Jessica Varney lifted CdA to a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run single.

PF loaded the bases in the top of the seventh. But a Trojans runner was thrown out at the plate when she tried to score on a medium-depth fly to center.

Basketball

More than 2,500 teams have entered the sixth annual Hoopfest 3-on-3 tournament.

By registration deadline, May 28, Hoopfest organizers expect another 1,000 teams.

The event in downtown Spokane, which could become the largest street tournament in the country this year, drew 3,067 teams a year ago.

TV sports

Rick Lukens has been promoted to sports director at KXLY-TV. He will continue to anchor the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts and report and produce the feature “Lukens at Large.”