Lake City takes advantage to win

Give a team at any level extra outs – especially the Idaho defending 5A state champion baseball team – and it’s the closest thing to digging a grave.

Lake City scored six runs in the second inning – all unearned and all coming with two outs – as the Timberwolves buried the Post Falls Trojans 10-5 in a Region I winner-to-state, loser-out game Friday afternoon.

Lake City (17-6) will meet District IV-V-VI champ Twin Falls (22-4) in a state opener Thursday at Borah High School’s Wigle Field in Boise at 3:30 p.m. PDT.

Region I champ Lewiston (20-1) opens against District III third-place finisher Eagle (16-11). In other matchups, District III champ Boise (25-2) will take on the winner of today’s play-in game between Madison and Idaho Falls, and District III runner-up Timberline (23-4) will go against District III fourth-place team Borah (12-16).

LC should not have sent more than the minimum three batters to the plate in the second. But a two-base error allowed Zach Clanton to reach.

Dylan Collinson advanced Clanton to third with a single and then Chris Combo, LC’s starting pitcher, helped himself with a two-run single. Then the Trojans committed a second error to extend the inning. Slow-footed catcher Tobin Broesch knocked in a run when he beat out a grounder that didn’t get halfway up the third-base line.

That set the table for leadoff hitter Kyle Johnson, who looped a three-run homer to left to give the T-Wolves a 6-0 lead.

PF coach Mick Zeller bemoaned the errors and his team’s inability to take advantage of an opportunity in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Brandon Brubaker opened with a single and Brett Winn squared to sacrifice. He beat out the bunt. But LC got Brubaker in a rundown when he rounded second too far.

“The base-running error took us right out of the inning,” Zeller said. “And then we turned around and gave them six unearned. A team like Lake City – defending state champ (and) a good-hitting team – you can’t give good teams extra outs.”

Johnson appeared to be out on his front foot and reaching when he hit the homer.

It was especially sweet to Johnson, who had to go to the hospital Tuesday and missed LC’s 9-8 win over Post Falls in a regional opener. He came down with a migraine 15 minutes before the game.

“I used to get them and I hadn’t got one in a about a year,” Johnson said.

“It was something like a knuckle curve or something like that and I just swung,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know it was out until I heard Trent (Bridges) say, ‘Get out of here.’ I thought it was just in the gap and I was just running as hard as I could.”

LC coach Cory Bridges was pleased his team took the drama out of the game early – until a seventh-inning, three-run homer by PF’s Zack Aker made the finish interesting.

“We played well and got some timely hits,” Bridges said. “It was good to score early and relax. Post Falls is a very competitive team. I felt comfortable at 10-1. With a 6-1 lead I wasn’t very comfortable yet.”

LC tacked on its final three runs in the sixth. Johnson had a sacrifice fly and Clanton knocked in two with a single.

•At Timberlake High in Spirit Lake, Bonners Ferry (11-6) defeated Priest River 3-1 in the 3A District I tournament on the strength of a complete-game five-hitter by Connor Herdt, who struck out 12. After Brian Nelson’s RBI triple gave PR the lead in the first inning, BF rallied with two runs in the fifth and an insurance run in the seventh. Casey Nelson went 2 for 3 and scored twice for BF, the second run coming when Kyle Nakagawa drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. Bonners Ferry plays St. Maries in a winner-to-state championship game today at 10 a.m. Priest River (7-7) plays Timberlake in a loser-out game at noon. The second winner-to-state game is scheduled for 2 p.m. … Marc Grubham’s two-out RBI single in the seventh gave St. Maries (13-4) a 3-2 win over Timberlake (10-10). Dalton Baker of St. Maries went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.

Softball

Lewiston qualified for the state tournament and eliminated Lake City with a 2-0 victory in 5A Region I play at Coeur d’Alene. Jessica Ulrich pitched a two-hitter for the Bengals (12-12). Shaundee Garrett had a single, double and home run for Lewiston. Leia Work pitched a six-hitter for Lake City (20-6), which had reached the championship game Thursday before losing twice.