Lumbermen awaken bats before State
The Coeur d’Alene American Legion baseball team won’t take a grab bag approach to its lineup when the Idaho state tournament begins tonight.
Because the Lumbermen had a state berth secured as the host – and because coach Zach Clanton wanted his team to regain some of its swagger – CdA decided to have some fun at the district tournament it hosted last week. Nine numbers were placed in a hat and each player pulled a number out to determine his spot in the batting order.
CdA, which opened the season 17-1, ended up losing to Lewis-Clark in the final, but Clanton thinks the gimmick may have gotten his players back on track.
“It’s easy to say that we went on a big slide but I also think we were playing better teams, better competition,” Clanton said. “We got our bats back (at district). It was very encouraging to see.”
The Lumbermen (30-20) play in the 7:30 host slot tonight, taking on the Meridian Rangers, the Area B runner-up, at Thorco Field, located at Ramsey Park next to the Kroc Center.
In other openers, Lewis-Clark (28-22) meets Area B third-place team the Nampa Chiefs in the first game at 10; the Boise Capitals, the Area B champions, take on the Pocatello Runnin’ Rebels, the Area C runner-up, at 1; and the Boise Gems, the Area B fourth-place team and defending state champion, meets the Twin Falls Cowboys, the Area C champ, at 4.
CdA broke out of the gate fast this season. But the Lumbermen fell into a funk, going 13-19 in their last 32 games.
The Lums take on a team that lost its state opener last year but fought back through the consolation bracket to get back to the state final before losing to the Boise Gems.
Clanton believes his team is ready to play like it did early in the season.
“Our bats are capable of putting up big innings,” he said. “And our pitching is good enough to keep us in ballgames. When our pitching is good we can be dominant. We’re a high energy group. We’ll be ready to go (tonight).”
Right-hander Sam Slusser will start on the mound. The Lums have been led by at the plate by Gibson Green, who is hitting .478 after missing a month in the season with a tear in a hamstring.
“He’s the leader of this group,” Clanton said.
Green, Parker Gabrielson, Steven Vaudreuil and Conner Cardinel will play for Clanton at Wenatchee Valley Community College next year. Clanton is WVCC’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.
Softball
Twenty-three teams, 10 of them from Spokane and North Idaho, begin play in the Amateur Softball Association 16U B and 18U B Western National Championships today at the Merkel Softball Complex.
Two of the local teams are in the eight-team 18U division, Spokane Diamonds-Stewart and Northwest Wildfire of North Idaho.
Area teams make up more than half the 15-team 16U field – Lakesiders, West Plains Bandits, Coeur d’Alene Crush, Spokane Scream, Liberty Lake Lightning, Spokane Diamonds-Vulcano, Spokane Mudhens-Hecker and Spokane Mudhens-Finch, a 14U A team playing up.
Pool-play games are today and Wednesday before double-elimination championship play runs Thursday through Sunday.
Wrestling
Eight area wrestlers earned All-American honors at the Cadet/Junior Freestyle and Greco Roman Nationals at Fargo, N.D.
They are: Cadet (14-15 year olds) Greco – Chase Tebbets, 88 pounds, sixth, Mead; Blake Haney, 94, eighth, Mt. Spokane; Clai Quintanilla, 120, 3rd, North Central; Trevor Senn, 170, sixth, Mead. Junior (16-18 year olds) Greco – Dalton Young, 120, third, Lakeside. Cadet freestyle – Tebbets, sixth; Haney, fifth; Braedon Orrino, 145, 7th, Central Valley.