Vikings get the job done
The Coeur d’Alene High softball team wasn’t at its best Thursday, but it was when it mattered most.
That was good enough for the Vikings to scratch out a 3-1 victory over Idaho Falls in a State 5A Tournament opener at Ramsey Park, but it also led to a lengthy postgame chat from coach Larry Bieber.
“We just didn’t have a whole lot of fire,” a relieved Bieber said. “We made some great plays, but we can’t keep turning the switch on and off. In my estimation, we have to have that intensity the whole game if we’re going to accomplish what we want to accomplish.”
The Vikings (20-6) will take on Mountain View (14-16), which pulled a first-day shocker by knocking off Borah 1-0, today at noon at Ramsey Park. On the other side of the bracket, Twin Falls (25-3) edged Meridian 4-1 and Timberline (25-3) rallied past three-time defending champ Eagle 5-2.
Twin Falls and Timberline collide at noon.
In 10 a.m. loser-out contests, Eagle (16-11) meets Meridian (13-12) while Idaho Falls (18-10) faces Borah (23-5).
Defense had the biggest impact on the Vikings’ opener. CdA was nearly flawless. Idaho Falls wasn’t – and paid for its breakdowns.
The Tigers had trimmed CdA’s lead to 3-1 in the fifth and had runners on second and third with two outs when Katie Hamilton lifted a long, wind-blown fly to center. Jackie Lenz got a quick read on the ball and made a nice running grab to prevent a game-tying extra-base hit.
“At first I thought it was (over my head), but I got there,” Lenz said. “Whether you get to it or not, you have to try your hardest.”
If that play didn’t break Idaho Falls’ will, shortstop Lindsey Stark’s glove work in the sixth inning probably did. After allowing a lead-off walk, pitcher Jenna DeLong fielded Kristi Standart’s grounder up the middle. DeLong fired low to second base, where Stark dug out the one-hopper and turned a double play.
“That was pretty spectacular,” Bieber said.
It followed the trend of the day. Idaho Falls had runners on base in every inning except one, but the Vikings found a way to escape. In the second, Standart hit a certain single to right only to watch a base runner inadvertently run into the ball. The first two Tigers reached in the third before DeLong retired the heart of Idaho Falls’ lineup. In the seventh, catcher Jordan Corbey’s snap throw picked off the Tigers’ Mandy Burton, who had wandered too far from first base.
“We left an awful lot of people on base,” Idaho Falls coach Mike Durrant said.
Coeur d’Alene, meanwhile, capitalized on Tigers’ miscues. Jami Anderson reached on an error and scored on Kylie Chandler’s single in the second.
“At first we were a little nervous,” Lenz said, “but once we got that first run we relaxed more.”
The bottom of CdA’s order came through again in the fourth. Anderson walked and moved to third when Meghan Albiston couldn’t field Corbey’s liner to center. Chandler delivered an RBI groundout and Jessyca Le added a run-scoring single.
DeLong yielded three hits and six walks, but would have had a shutout if not for a two-out error in the fifth.
The Vikings will meet Mountain View, which rode Marcella Anderson’s three-hit pitching to an upset victory over Borah. The Lions twice hit leadoff triples, but couldn’t push a run across against Anderson. Heather Sharts’ single plated Caylin LePire with the winning run in the sixth.
Elsewhere, Twin Falls broke up a scoreless duel on Justine Williams’ RBI double in the sixth.
Timberline took control with a three-run third inning. Mandy Klein went the distance, allowing seven hits.