Cda Fitting Site For State Softball

The State A-1 and A-2 fastpitch softball tournaments will be held in Coeur d’Alene beginning today. It’s the final year of the invitational-style tournaments.

Next year, the Idaho High School Activities Association will take over.

Coeur d’Alene is perhaps an appropriate place for the final invitational-style tourney, since it’s considered essentially the birthplace for high school softball in the state.

CdA athletic director Larry Schwenke started invitational state softball tournaments in 1979. He also helped spearhead the change from slowpitch to fastpitch two years ago.

The A-1 tournament marks the first time that all districts of the state are on the same page. Not all teams made the switch to fastpitch last year. Eastern Idaho schools switched this year and will be represented at state.

The A-1 tourney will be held entirely at the five-field Ramsey Park complex, while the A-2 tourney, involving Districts I, II and III, will be played at Memorial Field. A-2 teams from Districts IV, V and VI are holding a similar tournament in southern Idaho this weekend.

Defending State A-1 champion Centennial (21-6) and runner-up Lake City (17-4) appear strong.

In opening-round games today, Twin Falls (20-8) takes on Centennial and Eagle (18-8), which upset Centennial in the District III title game last week, takes on Sandpoint (7-10), both at 3 p.m. Following are LC meeting Capital (13-12) and Coeur d’Alene (14-12) taking on Idaho Falls (18-7), both at 5.

LC coach Dwight Wilson felt his team should have won state last year.

“If we wouldn’t have made some errors, we would have (won),” Wilson said.

The key for LC this week?

“You have to play great defense and handle the bunt,” Wilson said.

The A-1 tourney resumes Friday with three winner’s bracket games and seven consolation games. The championship game is scheduled for noon Saturday.

One game opens the A-2 tourney today as Moscow (11-10) and St. Maries (11-9) clash at 5.

In A-2 openers Friday, Lakeland (20-2) takes on Emmett (19-4) at 4 p.m. and the Moscow-St. Maries winner meets defending champion Middleton (14-6) at 6.

The title game Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Baseball

Lakeland and St. Maries figure to make some noise in the State A-2 Tournament, which begins today at Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa.

In opening-round games, Lakeland (18-2) takes on Sugar-Salem (13-8) at 8 a.m. PDT; Snake River (14-6) meets defending champion Bishop Kelly at 10:30; Buhl (22-5) collides with Preston (9-7) at 1 p.m.; and St. Maries (18-7) battles Vallivue (15-8) at 3:30.

Lakeland pulled off an impressive comeback with three runs in the seventh inning for a 3-2 win over Moscow in the District I-II title game Saturday.

The Hawks, who were torrid at the plate during the regular season, seemed to misplace their bats at district.

“Hitting or not hitting can be contagious,” Lakeland coach Ken Busch said. “I think the pressure is off them now that we’re going to state.”

Lakeland will start left-handed ace Brett DeBoer (7-1, 0.80 ERA, 113 strikeouts in 60-1/3 innings). St. Maries will go with Jason Holdahl (7-2, 3.23 ERA).

Wallace makes its sixth straight trip to state and fifth straight to the A-3/A-4.

The tourney begins today at LewisClark State College in Lewiston.

Wallace (17-6) takes on Wendell (19-7) in the tournament’s first game at 9 a.m. Also, Lapwai (14-7) meets tourney favorite Nampa Christian (22-0), Grangeville (19-2) takes on Fruitland (14-9) and Culdesac (7-9) meets Firth (14-5).

, DataTimes