‘State Title Game’ Will Come Week Early Last Year’S Two Finalists, Lc And Cda, Will Have To Battle For One Berth

The schedule says the State A-1 softball championship game will be held May 20 in Idaho Falls.

Technically, that’s correct. For two-time champ Coeur d’Alene and 1999 runner-up Lake City, the state final will be held a week earlier.

The Inland Empire League receives just one state tournament berth this spring. So a rematch of last year’s state final pitting crosstown rivals won’t occur.

So the Region I championship game will have to serve as the state showdown - at least for the loser.

“That’s just ridiculous,” said Lake City coach Darren Taylor, whose team fell 3-2 to the Vikings in last year’s final after defeating them in two of three league games to capture the conference title.

“It’s an absolute crying shame,” echoed CdA coach Larry Bieber, whose team will be seeking its third straight state title.

Six years ago when LC opened, softball fans envisioned a day when the city’s two high schools would face off for the state title.

That day arrived last spring.

Both teams return intact. It’s unfortunate that they won’t have an opportunity to meet again in the last game of the season.

All of which puts a big premium on league play. The league champ will play host to the regional final.

Is there a home-field advantage in softball, in the same town?

Bieber thinks so.

“There’s a definite home-field advantage,” Bieber said. “You get to take live batting practice in your own cage. We are so comfortable on our field.”

LC and CdA will play three times in league and most likely twice in the doubleelimination regional. The first league game is April 18 at CdA.

It’s almost a foregone conclusion that whichever team survives the regional will win the state title.

So which team will prevail?

“Both teams will be better than last year,” Taylor said.

“(LC) can compete with us and we know they can compete with us,” Bieber said. “Skillwise, both teams are pretty equal. They’ve got all the weapons we’ve got. I don’t see any weak links in them and I’m sure they’d say the same thing about us.”

Senior pitcher Blake Hoorelbeke hopes to lead CdA to another state title. Her equal is across town in junior Bobbi Darretta.

“I think the pitching is going to be a wash, so it’s going to come down to which team hits better and fields better,” Taylor said.

Hoorelbeke must deal with off-the-field matters. She’s being heavily recruited and has college visits lined up over spring break to the University of Tampa and Seminole Junior College, both in Florida. She’s also planning to visit Texas A&M and Central Arizona, one of the top JC programs in the nation.

Lakeland’s reign over?

Lakeland has owned the Intermountain League. But that could come to an end if two other teams have anything to say about it.

Second-year Timberlake could be the mirror image of its sister school. And St. Maries figures to be right in the middle of things.

“I don’t see us running away like last year - not even close,” Lakeland coach James Pizelo said. “It’s going to be a lot tighter than it was last year.”

Timberlake coach Mike Menti agrees. But he still considers Lakeland the favorite.

“Until somebody proves otherwise, it’s Lakeland,” Menti said. “They’re still the defending league champs.”

The district champ advances to state. The runner-up meets the District II winner (Grangeville or Orofino) in a playoff for another state berth.