Lakeland Takes Championship Step

Rain, rain go away, come again in, say, three days.

That was the collective cry of the State A-2 baseball teams Thursday as foul weather forced the postponement of two of the four-round games and the suspension of another.

One game was completed - Lakeland began its quest for a state title with a 4-1 win over Sugar-Salem - before the skies opened.

But the fact that even one game was played Thursday was amazing in itself.

The tournament originally was scheduled to be played at Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa. Tournament officials, however, scrapped that plan Thursday morning, after overnight rain had rendered NNC’s field unplayable.

So the teams packed up their gear and drove 75 miles south, to Mountain Home.

Finally, about 5 hours after the first game was scheduled to begin, Lakeland and Sugar-Salem played.

About an hour after that game started, defending state champion Bishop Kelly (15-11) and Snake River (14-6) hooked up on an adjacent field at Mountain Home High School.

That game, however, was suspended after two innings with Bishop Kelly ahead 3-1. The tourney resumes this morning at 9 in Nampa, although overnight rains could move it to Buhl, located 2-1/2 hours south of Boise.

The other two first-round games - one featuring Buhl (22-5) vs. Preston (9-7), the other St. Maries (18-7) vs. Vallivue (15-8) - will conclude this morning.

If the weather cooperates - the forecast calls for a chance of rain - loser-out games will be played, followed by championship semifinals in the evening.

Lakeland 4, Sugar-Salem 1

The Hawks, state champions three years ago, can taste another title.

While left-handed ace Brett DeBoer admitted he didn’t have his best stuff Thursday, even his “mediocre” stuff was more than the Diggers could handle.

DeBoer (8-1) survived a shaky third inning, when he allowed three of his four hits, to record 11 strikeouts - two in the seventh inning, when he didn’t give the Diggers any hope for a comeback.

Next start for DeBoer? He hopes it’s in the state title game Saturday.

“I was throwing a lot of balls and I was just working a little too fast,” DeBoer said of the third inning, when Sugar-Salem scored its lone run on three hits after the Hawks pitcher had opened the frame with back-to-back strikeouts. “My release point was a little off. I think I was hanging on to (the ball) a little too long, and I was aiming a little instead of throwing.”

DeBoer praised his teammates for scoring two insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Ryan Heuett had a run-scoring single and Kevin Bridge collected his third hit with an RBI double over the center fielder’s head.

“That got the adrenaline going and my confidence up,” DeBoer said.

Lakeland, which had mysteriously misplaced its bats when regular-season play concluded, found them in the first inning.

The first three Hawks reached base - Bridge and Josh Phelps on singles and Al Bevacqua on an error - before Kurt Reese drove in two runs with a double to give Lakeland a 2-0 lead.

“We have our hearts set on a state title and this is just one step closer,” DeBoer said. “I’ll be ready (Saturday).”

, DataTimes