Prep baseball roundup: Mt. Spokane falls to Kamiakin in 3A subregionals
Perhaps it was Mother Nature who finally put a kink in Mt. Spokane’s streak.
But Wildcats head coach Alex Schuerman wouldn’t buy into that theory.
After nearly two hours of rain delay, Mt. Spokane suffered its first loss of the season, falling to the Kamiakin Braves 7-2 in a Greater Spokane League-Mid Columbia Conference 3A subregional game on Friday.
Schuerman said the thunderstorm that struck Mt. Spokane’s first showing in the subregionals was no excuse for the Wildcats’ now blemished record after going undefeated all season.
“I don’t think the weather had any impact on the game,” Schuerman said. “That’s just baseball sometimes … maybe the gods just weren’t on our side today.”
Kamiakin managed to get on the board in the second inning before the game was put on hold halfway through the frame because of lightning.
Just as rain started to flood the field, Mt. Spokane called for a venue change. The Wildcats took the Braves to Shadle Park’s turf field where the storm seemed to have already settled.
Almost three hours after the game started, Mt. Spokane stepped up to the plate to finish the second inning, but couldn’t score.
Then the Wildcats lost control.
In the top of the third, Mt. Spokane’s Marcus Cain allowed four hits and issued a walk as the Braves piled on four more runs to push their lead to 5-0.
Schuerman sent Stu Flesland to relieve Cain, who remained in the game to hit.
“He’s been so good all year for us,” Schuerman said of Cain. “It just wasn’t his night.”
Flesland allowed a triple that plated one more run for the Braves, giving them a 6-0 lead heading into fourth.
Mt. Spokane finally got on the board in the fifth inning behind three hits that began with Brady Hill’s line drive to right-center. The Wildcats put their final run on the board in the seventh as catcher Ben McKinnis smacked a double to left that brought home Cain.
Mt. Spokane allowed Kamiakin 10 hits in total as opposed to the Wildcats’ six. Mt. Spokane also committed two errors.
Kamiakin’s win will send the Braves to the subregional championship game on Tuesday where they will face Southridge in the final.
Mt. Spokane will host Kennewick, which knocked out Shadle Park on Friday, in the loser-out bracket on Tuesday. The winner of that matchup will play the loser of the championship game for the second seed.
In the other 3A game, Trent Sellers pitched five strong innings and pounded out three hits as Kennewick knocked out Shadle Park (13-8) 13-3. Justin Solt started for Shadle and took the loss, but smacked four hits including two doubles
4A subregionals: Top-seeded Gonzaga Prep (17-4) downed Pasco 10-0 on Thursday and advanced to the second round of bi-district subregionals on Saturday against Chiawana, which beat Ferris. The Saxons (12-9) now play in a loser-out at Pasco on Saturday.
Central Valley (12-8) fell to Hanford and Walla Walla topped Mead (8-10), so the Bears and Panthers meet at CV in a loser-out on Saturday.
Great Northern
West Valley (15-5, 9-3) beat Pullman (5-8, 5-7) 7-6 last Tuesday, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh, to secure first place and a bye until the league championship game on Tuesday.
No. 2 seed Clarkston (11-5, 8-4) hosts fifth-seeded Cheney (5-11, 4-8) in a loser-out on Saturday, while third-seeded Pullman hosts No. 4 seed East Valley (4-12, 4-8). The winners play on Monday to decide who faces West Valley.
Northeast A
First place Freeman (17-2, 14-0) beat second place Chewelah (12-6, 10-4) 8-5 on Friday and finished league play undefeated. McKabe Cottrell struck out eight over six innings while Desmond Parisotto doubled twice and pitched a scoreless seventh for the save.
Medical Lake (8-5, 8-5) was scheduled to play Deer Park (9-6, 7-6) to settle third place but was rained out on Friday.
Freeman and Chewelah get first round byes in district play. The third-seed hosts No. 6 seed Lakeside and the fourth-seeded hosts No. 5 Colville (7-9, 6-8) on Monday in loser-out games. Freeman and Chewelah host second round games on Tuesday and the winners play on Friday for the title.
The league champ moves on to state, while second and third place plays in crossover games against Caribou Trail League teams on May 16.
District 7 2B
The first two rounds of the district tournament were held on Tuesday, with Lind-Ritzville/Sprague, St. George’s Wilbur-Creston and Liberty winning first round games.
In the second round, North No. 1 seed Northwest Christian (12-5, 10-2) knocked off LRS, North No. 2 Kettle Falls (15-3, 9-3) beat Liberty, South No. 1 Colfax (15-1, 12-0) eliminated W-C and South No. 2 Asotin (13-5, 8-2) topped St.G.
In the championship rounds on Monday, played at Medical Lake, NWC plays Asotin and Colfax faces Kettle Falls, then the winners play for the title. All four teams qualify for regionals.
District 7 & 9 1B
On Tuesday, District 7 No. 1 Almira/Coulee-Hartline (18-0) plays D9 No. 2 Colton (12-4) and D9 No. 1 Pomeroy (15-3) faces D7 No. 2 Odessa-Harrington (13-3). The winners play on May 13 and both go to state.
Meanwhile, D7 No. 3 Selkirk (10-7) takes on D7 No. 5 Northport (5-11) and D9 No. 3 Garfield-Palouse (3-9) plays D9 No. 4 Cusick (9-5) in loser-out games on Tuesday.
The winners go on to face the higher-bracket losers on May 13 for the third and fourth seeds to state.
Idaho
In the Inland Empire district tournament on Monday, top-seeded Lewiston (14-6, 7-4) hosts No. 4 seed Coeur d’Alene (12-9, 3-8), while second-seeded Lake City (11-8, 6-6) hosts No. 3 Post Falls (13-9, 6-6).
The winners will face off on Tuesday for a trip to state, while the losers play in a loser-out game. The loser of the title game will face the winner of the loser-out on Thursday to go to a play-in game to state.
Sandpoint hosts Moscow in a 4A district game on Tuesday. The winner plays at top-seeded Lakeside on Thursday for a trip to state.
In 3A, top-seeded Bonners Ferry hosts No. 4 Kellogg and second-seeded Timberlake hosts No. 3 Priest River on Monday. The winners play for a state berth on Tuesday while the second seed to state will be decided on Thursday.
The 2A district tournament is Tuesday at Orofino. The Maniacs play Grangeville, with the winner taking on top-seeded St. Maries. That winner goes to state while the loser goes to a play-in game to state.
Play-in games to the 1A district tournament are Tuesday at Orofino. First round games are on Friday and second round games on Saturday. The top three earn a trip to state.