Lake City hopes to repeat state title
The Lake City High baseball team wasn’t the best 5A team in the state from start to finish last year.
Start is the operative word here. When it counted the most, though, the Timberwolves concluded as the best team. Lake City won its final 13 games, including a telling 7-1 victory over Lewiston in an all-Inland Empire League state championship showdown.
Lake City enjoyed some good fortune at state. The Timberwolves had to go to extra innings before winning their opener and found themselves trailing 7-1 in the semifinals before they rallied.
With eight of nine starters back, Lake City is heavily favored to repeat. At least one team, though, will challenge the T-Wolves. And Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls hope to push LC along with Lewiston.
Here’s a look at Lake City, Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint.
Lake City
The T-Wolves (22-6 overall, 13-5 league) graduated IEL player of the year Alex Capaul, a right-handed pitcher/first baseman. All the other important parts return.
The returning starters are: seniors Kyle Johnson (center field), Trent Bridges (shortstop), the coach’s son, Chris Combo (second base/rhp), Zach Clanton (rhp/right field), Tucker Anderson (rhp/left field), Nick Combo (third base), Tobin Broesch (catcher) and Dylan Collinson (first base/outfield).
Clanton, Bridges and Johnson were first team all-IEL picks. Anderson, Collinson and Chris Combo were second team all-league selections.
Capaul signed to continue playing at the University of Hawaii. And many of this year’s T-Wolves are going to play in college as well. Johnson (Washington State), Bridges (Lewis Clark State College) and Anderson (Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan.) have already signed letters of intent. Bridges also expects Clanton, the Combo twins and Collinson to play at the next level.
It’s a deeply talented group.
“There’s going to be a bull’s-eye on our back,” LC coach Cory Bridges said. “Deservingly so. But how we handle it will be critical. The good thing about this group is they’ve been playing together so long that they sort of self-regulate themselves. They keep each other in line. They have great camaraderie and friendship. Their honesty with each other is tremendous. They police their own attitudes.”
Believe it or not, LC does have a few question marks. Broesch and Chris Combo go into the season with sore arms. Bridges believes Broesch hurt his arm shoveling snow this winter, and Combo may have hurt his during the American Legion season last summer.
Because of the record snowfall, a foot of snow was still on LC’s field going into the week. The T-Wolves went to Lewiston last weekend for their first outdoor practices. They were scheduled to open at the Lewiston Invitational on Friday.
Clanton was the No. 2 pitcher behind Capaul last year. Chris Combo was No. 3. Anderson is expected to throw more innings this season.
“Zach Clanton will be our ace,” Bridges said. “He’s very capable. A lot of people thought he might have been our top pitcher last year. We’ll have the kids to throw strikes and get outs.”
LC was a solid defensive team last year and Bridges expects the same this season. The top seven batters were difficult outs a year ago, and Bridges expects his lineup to be explosive top to bottom this spring.
“We have a lot of proven kids,” Bridges said. “They have a swagger, but it’s not a cocky swagger. It’s a sense of confidence.”
Coeur d’Alene
The Vikings (16-10, 10-8) were the antithesis of LC last year. CdA started fast before smoldering out in the end.
Unfortunately for CdA, it doesn’t return the same experience as the T-Wolves.
CdA graduated 12 and return just three lettermen and two starters. For the Viks to be competitive with LC and Lewiston, they will have to ride the shoulders of juniors Jackson Seaman (rhp/ss), a first team all-league pick, and J.J. Turbin (left-handed pitcher/cf) and senior Steve Welton (rhp/infielder) in more ways than one. Seaman and Turbin are returning starters.
Some of the first-year Viks to watch are: sophomore Ryan Dunton (inf), senior Jarod Ball (rhp/of) and sophomore Matt Cade (lhp/first base).
Seaman and Turbin will see the bulk of CdA’s innings on the mound. But ask coach Chris Stangel who the other pitchers will be and his response is “Johnny Wholestaff”; ask for specific names at infield positions and he says “Heinz 57 – all varieties.”
Although the Viks have a lot of unknowns, Stangel likes his team’s chemistry.
“Our kids have sacrificed and worked hard,” Stangel said. “They’re dedicated. They have an uphill climb. I can’t tell you what they’ll be. It’s a journey, but I wouldn’t want any other players than mine.”
Despite the Viks’ youth, Stangel sees his team competing with the league heavyweights.
“We’re going to be able to stay in the hard battles we have every game,” he said. “You’re going to see them fight every game.”
The Viks opened the season last Saturday by sweeping Moscow 13-3 and 7-1 in games played at Lewiston.
CdA sent a number of players on to college this year. Shea Vucinich (ss) is already having an impact at WSU; Andy Seaman (rhp) is at West Point; Vinny Lupinacci (catcher) and Alex Reyes (of) are at Tacoma Community College; and Cody Spencer (second base) is at George Fox.
Sandpoint
The Bulldogs (16-12, 9-7) captured the 4A state title two years ago and took fourth last year.
With seven starters back, Sandpoint is poised to make another run at a state trophy – if not a state title.
Sandpoint returns its top hitter, senior Cory Hawkins (ss/rhp). Hawkins, a first team all-league pick, batted .480 and hit nine home runs last year.
The Bulldogs’ other returning starters are: junior Jake Semones (cf), a second team all-league choice, seniors Cody Reichart (catcher), Woody Hawkins (third base/rhp) and Ryan Armbruster (of), junior Cole Tonnemacher (first base) and sophomore Ben Fisher (second base/ss/rhp).
Doug Semones, an assistant coach last year, takes over for Mike Givens, who resigned to watch his daughter play softball. Semones, who moved from Hawaii to Sandpoint two years ago, has previous head coaching experience in football.
“I like our experience,” Semones said. “They know what we have to do to win the (4A) league and go to state. They have an idea of what it’s going to take to win the state tournament.”
Sandpoint opens the season this weekend at the Lewiston Invitational. The Bulldogs aren’t scheduled to play at home until April 10, and that could be overly optimistic with between 18 inches and two feet of snow still covering Memorial Field.