Baseball - for a good cause

Timberwolves edge Vikings in ‘Homeruns 4 Homeless’ charity game

COEUR d'ALENE - On a night when the game wasn't about wins and losses, Lake City scored twice in the top of the sixth inning with two outs on a double from Jason Pattis, giving the Timberwolves a 7-6 win over the Coeur d'Alene Vikings in the "Homeruns 4 Homeless" baseball game at McEuen Field on Wednesday.

"Coeur d'Alene is a top-notch club," Lake City coach Al Bevacqua said. "You've really got to compete every inning against them."

Lake City (12-8, 4-6 5A IEL) built a 2-0 lead on a Ben Pharis sacrifice fly in the third, but the Vikings rallied with four runs in the bottom of the inning, keyed by a two-run single by Chad Nyquist.

Christian Mayfield dropped an RBI single into right field to even the score at 4 before Taylor Combo scored on a wild pitch to give the Timberwolves a 5-4 lead after the top of the fourth inning.

Coeur d'Alene (19-8, 8-4) evened the game at 5 in the bottom of the fourth as Colin Comack drove in Matt Cade on a fielder's choice, with the Vikings taking a 6-5 lead on another fielder's choice to score Matt Lambert.

Lake City pitcher Pete Hoffman came on in relief of starter Scott Siebert and threw three scoreless innings, striking out five.

"Our approach and focus tonight was great," Bevacqua said. "Our kids performed the way they wanted to. We didn't give in and I'm happy with the way we played. It was a total team effort."

Nyquist, Lambert and Matt Cade had two hits apiece for Coeur d'Alene.

"We had a couple more mistakes that we should have," Coeur d'Alene coach Nick Rook said. "We fanned out a few more times than usual."

Coeur d'Alene finishes the regular season as the No. 2 team in the 5A IEL and will face Lake City on Monday at 4 p.m. in the regional playoff opener at Ted Page Field.

"Season one is over for us," Rook said. "I feel good about where we are going."

Lake City will conclude the regular season at Post Falls today in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

"It's going to be a sparing match getting towards districts," Bevacqua said. "It's going to be a dog fight between all four teams."

Of defeating the team they will play again Monday, Bevacqua knows it will take another strong effort to do it again.

"I told our kids you've got to keep a short memory about this game," Bevacqua said. "Monday is another game."

Pattis finished with two hits for Lake City.

Wednesday's game was held as a fundraiser for the homeless in Kootenai County, with raffles and silent auctions also being held at McEuen Field.

"It was good high school baseball game," Rook said. "It was for a good cause and helped bring light to a situation in the community that everyone can rally around."

Lake City 101 302 0 - 7 6 2

Coeur d'Alene 004 200 0 - 6 6 2

Scott Siebert, Pete Hoffman (5) and Bryce Mort; Derek Priano, Nathan Collier (4), Colin Comack (5) and Devon Austin. W - Hoffman (3-5). L - Comack (3-2).

HITS: LC - Pattis 2, Pharis, Combo, Mayfield, Bevacqua. Cd'A - Nyquist 2, Lambert 2, Cade 2, Dunton. 2B - Pattis, Dunton.