Trend reversed
Early in the season, Coeur d’Alene High baseball coach Brian Holgate thought his team was capable of earning a berth to the state tournament.
The problem, Holgate said, is his team got caught up talking too much about it.
Holgate’s Vikings are still a win away from securing a state berth, but the good news is they can start thinking about it again.
Perhaps even start talking about it, too.
Losers in three of four regular-season games to rival and second-seeded Lake City, the No. 3 Vikings started anew Monday, upending the Timberwolves 8-2 in a 5A Region I tournament loser-out opener.
CdA (14-8) heads to Inland Empire League champ and top-seeded Lewiston (20-3) today to decide the regional championship at 5. The winner advances to state, which will be held May 18-20 in Boise. The loser still can capture a berth in a play-in game Saturday against the District III fifth-place team.
“We’ve got one more win to get to state – whether it’s (today) or Saturday,” Holgate said. “We’ve been playing for a state tournament maybe too early in the year. Maybe we put too much pressure on ourselves to get there.”
Holgate had a plan for the regional opener. He decided to throw his top three pitchers – Jake Hall, Andy Seaman and Bryant Sampson, all right handers – hoping to keep the T-Wolves off balance. Holgate said he thought the idea came to him in a dream last week.
It worked well. Hall (3-0), who started and picked up the decision, worked the first three innings. He gave way to Seaman for two innings, who gave way to Sampson for the final two innings. They combined to limit LC (16-7) to six harmless hits.
“It was one of those things – I don’t know if I was dreaming about it or whatever – but I thought about it and ran it by (the assistant) coaches. I said ‘we’ve got three guys who are pretty good pitchers.’ Other teams have done it against us. It’s tough to hit against three different guys, especially when you’ve got guys who are decent. You get into a rhythm as a hitter and then all of a sudden here comes a new guy. Each one of them deserved to pitch to get us to state. That’s how we looked at it.”
CdA rebounded from being no-hit by LC right-hander Alex Capaul the last time the teams faced off.
Capaul picked up where he left off April 27 by getting the Viks in order in the first inning. But the T-Wolves pitcher began to run into problems in the second inning when he walked the first two batters. Capaul got out of the first jam before CdA touched him up in the third inning.
The Viks scored five runs on four hits and were aided by three LC errors in the inning that essentially decided the game. LC finished with six errors.
“We competed against Capaul this time,” Holgate said. “It was a challenge to our guys to come out and compete against him because last time he took it to us. We were ready for him today.”
The T-Wolves didn’t do much to help themselves Monday.
“Their approach at the plate was better than ours,” LC coach Cory Bridges said. “I think they came in looking to hit the ball the other way and were very successful. And then I think it got to Alex’s head a little bit and he lost command and lost some focus. Then we made some uncharacteristic errors that led to a few more of their runs.”
Bridges praised his team.
“We had a great year,” he said. “I’m very proud of the seniors. They’re as fine a group as I’ve had. It’s too bad it comes down to a one-game playoff.”
Baseball
•4A Region 1 playoffs: Michael Shaffer hit a two-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift No. 2 Post Falls past visiting No. 3 Moscow. Shaffer, the Trojans’ No. 9 hitter, had another three-run home run in the fourth inning and finished the game with six RBIs, two runs and two stolen bases. The Bears’ Paul Wimer finished 3 for 4 with a double and two solo home runs, including the game-tying shot in the top of the seventh inning. Justin Johnson went 3 for 3 for Post Falls and turned a key double play in the seventh before Wimer’s home run. Brandon Parker had eight strikeouts and one walk in a complete game for the Trojans (13-9). Ross Steele pitched a complete game in a losing effort for Moscow (7-15). Post Falls will travel to Sandpoint today to face the No. 1 Bulldogs in a winner-to-state game. The loser will play the winner of today’s Moscow-Lakeland game in Moscow on Thursday. … Sandpoint’s Zac Manor had seven strikeouts and no walks while scattering three hits in Sandpoint’s 10-0 win over visiting No. 4 Lakeland (3-19) in five innings. Noah Hawkins and Tyler Lichty each had three RBIs, and Clay Montgomery chipped in two RBIs for the Bulldogs (14-8).
Boys golf
•3A District 1 tournament: Kellogg took the first step toward defending its state title by claiming a 43-stroke victory over second-place St. Maries. The Wildcats’ Shea Sevy and Carter Wardwell shared medalist honors with 6-over-par scores of 78 at the St. Maries Golf Course. All five of Kellogg’s competitors placed in the top six. Next stop for the Wildcats is the state tournament May 15-16 in Pocatello.
Girls golf
•3A District 1 tournament: Kellogg shot a 412 to defend its district title and earn a trip to the state tournament May 15-16 in Pocatello. Sue James was the medalist with an 89 at the par-70 St. Maries Golf Course. Last year Kellogg finished third at state. Dana Arrhenius was the runner-up with a 92 for St. Maries, which shot 472 and was the only other team to field five players.