CdA-LC split gives assist to Lewiston

Neither Coeur d’Alene nor Lake City gained on each other in Inland Empire League baseball Saturday afternoon.

And both teams slipped another game behind league-leading Lewiston.

Even with a split, though, Coeur d’Alene is still within striking distance of Lewiston. The Vikings, behind another solid pitching outing by ace Andy Seaman, edged Lake City 3-1 in the opener at CdA before the Timberwolves, behind a similarly reliable pitching effort from their standout, Alex Capaul, bounced back for a 7-3 victory in the second game.

CdA moved to 15-3 overall and 9-3 in league while LC is 10-6 and 6-5.

In a doubleheader at Post Falls, Lewiston (16-2, 12-1) swept the Trojans (6-12, 3-9) 8-2 and 9-0.

Vikings senior right fielder Alex Reyes had a key hit and a critical catch in the first game. In the first inning, Reyes hit a double to the center-field fence with two outs, knocking in two runs to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead. It would prove to be the only runs they’d need.

“I’ve been feeling good the last couple of weeks,” Reyes said of his hitting. “I just had to step up with two outs and get it done.”

It was an over-the-shoulder catch by Reyes in the fifth that preserved CdA’s lead and perhaps the win. LC had runners at second and third after a single by Trent Bridges and a double by Capaul. Dylan Collinson lifted a deep fly to right that Reyes hauled in on the run.

“I thought I had a pretty good read on it,” Reyes said. “Both my other outfielders were yelling ‘in, in,’ but the wind was actually blowing out. I just made a good catch.”

The hit and the defensive gem are things CdA coach Chris Stangel has come to expect from Reyes.

“Alex always seems to come up with something big,” Stangel said. “If you go back to any game during the course of the season, there’s a big hit by Alex Reyes.”

LC managed just one run off of Seaman (6-1).

“Andy (Seaman) threw a great game, but we hit the heck out of the ball,” LC coach Cory Bridges said. “We hit the ball harder the first game than we did the second game. We just hit a lot of balls hard. We didn’t find a lot of holes, but I was very, very pleased with the offense in (both games).”

Zach Clanton (1-3), LC’s starting pitcher in the first game, hasn’t had much run support. After he got two hits in his first two at-bats, he struck out his final two times up.

Bridges considered sitting Clanton in the second game. But after Clanton hit some soft toss with assistant coach Ken Gabriel between games, Gabriel convinced Bridges to keep him in the batting order.

Clanton delivered, lifting a fastball over the left-field fence for a three-run home run, his first of the season, to give LC a 5-0 lead in the third.

“I’ve been kind of slumping all week so it felt good to come out and have a good game,” Clanton said.

CdA hosts Lewiston in a doubleheader Tuesday. The Bengals swept the Vikings earlier.

“We’ve got to get Lewiston in both games,” Reyes said. “We have the ability to do it. When we went down there I don’t know if it was a confidence thing or what it was, but we’ve put a lot of time and investment in what we’re doing so I think we’ll do well.”