Lewiston, Cda Are Iel Picks Bengals, Vikings Teams Have Talent To Climb To The Top Of State Heap

The Lewiston High School baseball team captured the State A-1 championship two years ago with a senior-laden, talented team.

Bengals coach Tom Grunenfelder may have the makings of a similar team this year.

And the Bengals may not have to look any further than their own league to find challengers. Two years ago, Lewiston topped Coeur d’Alene to win the state title game.

Two Inland Empire League teams advance to state this season, and Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene are the front-runners to pick up those berths.

If there’s a dark horse, it could be Lake City, which finished last in each of its first two seasons.

“Lewiston has a huge jump on all of us because of the weather,” Coeur d’Alene’s first-year coach Brian Holgate said. “They’ve got to be the favorite. Until someone knocks them off, everybody is chasing them. I think the rest of us are pretty close.”

The state tournament will be played May 15-18 at Boise.

In the Intermountain League, Lakeland will try to defend its State A-2 championship.

The Hawks lost much to graduation, but the dugout is hardly empty in Rathdrum.

The top two IML teams advance to state, which also will be held May 15-18 at Boise.

Wallace and Lakeside, the Panhandle’s smallest schools that field teams, will square off again to determine which team advances to a cross-district playoff.

They will play two doubleheaders. The team winning the most games will meet the District II third-place team in a playoff for a state berth.

The state tournament will be played May 15-18 at Idaho Falls.

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