Tigers avoid elimination

It wasn’t the Alabama state tournament; it was the Idaho state tournament. And it wasn’t played in Mobile, it was mobile.

On a Friday that saw local entries Timberlake win and Lakeland lose, the 3A softball tournament actually moved 30 miles north to Spirit Lake due to rain and muddy conditions at Ramsey Park in Coeur d’Alene.

Facing elimination and down 1-0 in the fifth inning, the Tigers (19-10) finally had some breaks go their way and outlasted Bear Lake 2-1. Lakeland, warmed up and ready to face Middleton in the winner’s bracket at noon in CdA, ended up not hitting the field – at Timberlake High in Spirit Lake – until 4:30. The Hawks (23-5) came out flat and, despite senior ace Jessie LaPlante’s two-hitter, fell 2-0 to the Vikings (21-3).

In other second-round action in Spirit Lake, Buhl advanced to face Middleton in the championship round with a 9-7 victory over Fruitland. Earlier in the day at Ramsey Park, Teton (17-13) stayed alive, eliminating Sugar-Salem 3-2 in eight innings. In Friday’s earliest play, carried over from a Thursday rain stoppage, Middleton’s Donnae Carrell no-hit Teton as the Vikings trounced the Redskins 19-0 in five innings.

If all of that wasn’t confusing enough, the tournament may – or may not – resume with Lakeland taking on Intermountain League foe Timberlake and Fruitland facing Teton at Ramsey Park this morning at 8. If the track is too muddy there, the next option has those two games being played at Post Falls High School at 8 a.m. If neither of the venues are viable at 8, the games would be put on hold until later in the day or skipped entirely if weather and field conditions dictate.

The closest thing to a safe bet is that the Middleton-Buhl championship-round game will take place at 10 a.m. – either at first-choice Ramsey, second-choice Post Falls or, if necessary, at Timberlake High.

Got all that?

If not, please hesitate to call Timberlake athletic director and tournament director Ted Mecham, whose staff has done yeoman’s work in bringing the event as far as its come. Short of that, or show up at Ramsey at 6:30 a.m. to get the tourney’s latest (earliest?) and hopefully not-so soggy schedule.

Timberlake 2, Bear Lake 1

Tigers starter Melissa Piephoff hit the game’s first batter, center fielder Katie Boehme. Boehme promptly advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on catcher Brit Birsette’s errant throw-out attempt.

The score held at 1-0 until the fifth, when Timberlake, which seemed to have nothing but bad luck, finally got some of the good.

Tigers first-baseman Jenny Durrin led off the inning with a hard ground ball to Bears shortstop Amy Packham, whose throw was low, allowing Durrin to reach on the error. Durrin advanced to second on a wild pitch and, after a Heather Galland pop-up and a walk to Heather McDaniel, went to third on Katrina Galloway’s sacrifice bunt.

Bear Lake starter Karen Packham’s very next pitch again went wild, hitting her leg on the delivery and allowing Durrin to score and McDaniel to make it to third.

Leadoff hitter Kala Allred then stepped to the plate with two outs and delivered the game’s only RBI – the game-winner – on a soft liner up the middle.

Timberlake ace Melissa Piephoff allowed just two hits and struck out five.

Middleton 2, Lakeland 0

LaPlante was again outstanding for the Hawks, striking out 10 and doing what it took hold the Vikings scoreless through the fateful sixth inning.

But with two out in that sixth, pitcher Chelise Mortensen hit a routine ground ball to Lakeland third-baseman Sam Owen, whose throw got away from Jodee Jahnsen at first base.

Carrell then stepped to the plate and delivered the first hit of the game off of LaPlante, a high-arcing RBI triple over the head of Hawks right-fielder Brittany Leat.

Vikings center fielder Kim Kent followed with an RBI single and the game’s only damage was done.

Hawks coach Jim Pizelo, whose team has lost games at state in the past before coming back to win it all, gave credit to Mortensen and pointed to his team’s acute lack of production at the plate.

“Their pitcher moved it around pretty good – she kept us off balance,” Pizelo said. “We’ve just been slumping bad at the plate – we haven’t been able to generate anything.

“Not to take anything away from their pitcher, because she threw a great game – but not to be able to get a bunt down and not to be able to generate runs has been a major frustration.”