Split Muddles Iel Cda Softball Team Regroups After Loss To Avoid Sweep By Lc

The more Inland Empire League softball teams play, the more wacky things seem to get.

Co-league leaders Lake City and Coeur d’Alene met in a doubleheader Friday with both teams having an opportunity to put a slight cushion between themselves and the pack.

A split, though, allowed Post Falls and Lewiston to keep contact.

Lake City held off a late rally to stop Coeur d’Alene 5-4 in the opener before the Vikings charged back to salvage more than pride as they spanked the Timberwolves 13-0 in a game stopped in the fifth inning by the 10-run rule at Lake City.

Lake City moved to 5-3 in league (9-5 overall) a day after upstart Post Falls brought the T-Wolves back to the pack in a sweep at Lake City.

As league play reaches the midway mark this week, Post Falls (3-3) and Lewiston (3-3) are tied in the loss column with Lake City and Coeur d’Alene (8-7).

“With the exception of Sandpoint (0-4) any team can win (the league),” Lake City coach Dwight Wilson said.

For Lake City, the victory in the opener stopped a recent trend of late-inning losses.

Coeur d’Alene was rolling along behind sophomore power pitcher Blake Hoorelbeke. The Viks led 2-0 when Lake City took the lead with four runs in the fifth inning.

Kelli O’Hara plated the go-ahead runs on a double that apparently skipped over the third-base bag. Coeur d’Alene coach Larry Bieber argued the ball wasn’t fair. Wilson said he was practically standing on top of third and agreed with the plate umpire’s judgment.

Coeur d’Alene rallied in the seventh to tie the score at 4. Catcher Kelli Babcock belted an RBI triple to the gap in right-center, scoring Stacy Weber, who had reached on a walk. Hoorelbeke followed with a sharp single through the hole between shortstop and third, scoring Babcock.

The Vikings loaded the bases thereafter, but Lake City’s defense stiffened.

The T-Wolves answered in their half the inning. Shelby McIntosh led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Perhaps the at-bat of the game followed when Brandi Brumley worked Hoorelbeke after falling behind 0-2.

Brumley fouled off five pitches before drawing a walk.

After a foul out, freshman Bobbi Darretta looped a single to right to score McIntosh from second.

“We almost didn’t finish in the seventh inning; that’s been a problem lately,” Wilson said. “We’ve lost three games in the seventh like that.”

Bieber told his team between games to put the controversy and heartbreak of the loss behind them.

The Vikings did. A determined Coeur d’Alene scored 10 runs in the first inning, sending 14 batters to the plate. Babcock continued a strong hitting effort with a two-run triple and a two-run single in the inning.

Hoorelbeke also started the second game and appeared to get stronger as the innings piled up. She held LC to one hit, that coming from Brumley.

“I just wanted to give it my all and put the first game behind me,” she said.

Said Bieber: “The girls got it back together in a hurry.”

Babcock finished with a game-high five hits and six RBIs in the doubleheader.

Becca Reed (7-5) won twice, pitching a two-hitter during the three-inning opener and adding 4-1/3 innings of no-hit relief in the second game as Post Falls (7-6, 5-3) swept visiting Sandpoint 15-0, 7-5 in the IEL.

The Trojans’ Shannon McCormick and Jayme Smith were a combined 7 for 10, with nine RBIs, for the day. Angie Foster added a 2-for-4 day, with three walks and four runs.

The Bulldogs are 0-14, 0-6.

Boys soccer

Levi Link had two goals and one assist in the second half as Coeur d’Alene defeated visiting Lewiston 3-0 in a North Idaho League match.

Link scored on a 10-yarder at 47 minutes, then 2 minutes later on a shot that deflected off the Bengals’ goalkeeper. The Vikings (7-4-1, 7-1-1) played without seven starters, who were in Boise for an Olympic Development Program.

Lewiston is 1-9-1, 1-8-1.

Girls tennis

Abbey and Leslie Davis won the No. 1 doubles match 6-2, 6-1 as visiting Coeur d’Alene defeated West Valley 5-2 in a non-leaguer.

Five of the matches went three sets. WV’s Tiffany Miner won the No. 2 singles after losing the first set 6-2.