Lums sweep Cranbrook

COEUR d'ALENE - Grant Curtis and Alex Krapas had three hits apiece as the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen swept the Cranbrook Bandits 14-0 and 7-5 on Saturday night at McEuen Field in a North Idaho League "AA" American Legion matchup.

Alex Gunnerson had five strikeouts in the first game for Coeur d'Alene (18-24, 8-6 NIL).

"I was just trying to relax," Gunnerson said. "I just was trying to throw pitches. When I can control my pitches, I want to keep it going. It's a high and I love starting on the mound."

Coeur d'Alene had five players with at least two hits in the first game.

"Alex threw a gem in the first game," Coeur d'Alene coach Lloyd Duman said. "We hit the ball extremely well. Our focus was between the lines. Alex threw a lot of off-speed stuff tonight, and some teams struggle with that. We were just fortunate tonight."

Bryce Johnson had two hits for Cranbrook in the first game.

Coeur d'Alene used a six-run third inning to move past Cranbrook in the second game.

"We still hit the ball well in the second game," Duman said. "We just weren't as aggressive at the plate. Right now, we're looking for seeding so any win is a good win. Kaleb (DeHaas) was nails for us in relief in the second game."

Lea McCullum hit a solo home run in the sixth inning for Cranbrook (8-28, 0-14).

"I thought we played better in the second game," Cranbrook coach Kyle Krustangel said. "We had a couple bad plays that cost us in the outfield. It was a good outing by Jordan (Anderson) in the second game. It would have been pretty easy to roll over after getting blown out in the first game, but our guys hung in and played hard in the second game."

Coeur d'Alene closes out the regular season today with a 5 p.m. doubleheader against Trail at McEuen Field. The Lumbermen can earn the No. 2 seed to the Class AA Area A (district) tournament starting Thursday at Post Falls with a split, following Lewis-Clark's (29-6, 14-0) sweep of Trail (17-20, 6-8) 9-0 and 7-3 on Saturday at Harris Field in Lewiston. Prairie (13-25, 8-8) would finish as the No. 3 seed with a Coeur d'Alene win.

FIRST GAME

Cranbrook 000 00 - 0 5 1

Coeur d'Alene 084 2x - 14 17 2

Game called in fifth inning due to 10-run rule.

Ryan Phillips, Spencer Anset and Thies; Alex Gunnerson and Joe Roletto. W - Gunnerson (2-3). L - Phillips.

HITS: Cran - Juricic, Bone, Thies, Br. Johnson 2. Cd'A - Kiefer 2, Bevacqua 2, Pattis 2, Nyquist 2, Curtis 3, Priano, Krapas 3, DeHaas 2, Roletto. 2B - Bone, Kiefer, Bevacqua, Curtis, Krapas.

SECOND GAME

Cranbrook 100 301 0 - 5 3 3

Coeur d'Alene 006 001 x - 7 9 2

Jordan Armstrong and Jesse Thies; Ransom Storm, Kaleb DeHaas and Alex Gunnerson. W - Storm (2-2). L - Armstrong. S - DeHaas (1).

HITS: Cran - Juricic, McCullum, Johnson. Cd'A - Kiefer, Bevacqua 2, Pattis, Curtis 2, Krapas, Gunnerson, Roletto. 2B - Juricic, Pattis, Roletto. HR - McCullum.