Vikings slide into state
<p>Coeur d'Alene High's Kaleb DeHaas unsuccessfully tries to avoid the tag from Bryce Mort from Lake City High as he slides toward home plate.</p>
<p>Coeur d'Alene High's Devon Austin, left, is congratulated by his teammate Jake Matheson after hitting a three-run homer against Lake City in the Viking's 13-1 win Thursday.</p>
COEUR d’ALENE — When it needed runs the most, Coeur d’Alene was able to find them in bunches as the Vikings defeated the Lake City Timberwolves 13-1 in five innings in the 5A Region 1 baseball tournament second-place game at Ted Page Field on Thursday.
Coeur d’Alene (21-9) advances to the state 5A tournament starting next Thursday, and will face Capital (15-12) of Boise at 6:15 p.m. PDT at Memorial Stadium in Boise.
“I really can’t express how blessed we are to coach a group like this,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nick Rook said. “They should be very proud of what they’ve done this year.”
Devon Austin’s three-run homer ignited a seven-run fourth inning to chase Lake City starting pitcher Ben Pharis from the mound. Pharis pitched a one-hitter vs. the Vikings on April 16.
“Ten out of 10 times, I’d go with Ben in a game to go to state,” Lake City coach Al Bevacqua said. “He went out and competed like we expected him to. They just hit him hard today.”
After the first two batters reached base in the fourth, Austin came up and drove a pitch over the left field fence.
“I was just thinking about getting a hit,” Austin said. “I hadn’t hit the ball that well and figured now was a good time to start. At first, I thought it was a routine fly ball, but after rounding first I knew it was gone.”
Viking junior Matt Lambert was 2 for 3 with a triple and three RBIs.
“I knew we had to have a solid approach against (Ben) Pharis,” Lambert said. “We knew that if we let him get some pitches over, he’d be tough to stop.”
Lambert, who played on last year’s state qualifier, added that he’s looking forward to getting back to state.
“It’s going to be great to play Capital again,” said Lambert, whose Vikings lost 6-4 to the Eagles last year in their opener at state. “We know what the expectations are. We just need to keep swinging the bats — but it’s a good thing there’s a line at the bat racks because everyone wants a chance to hit.”
The Vikings opened the scoring on a solo home run by Colin Comack and added another run on an RBI single by Chad Nyquist in the first inning.
“Offensively, we could be electric,” Rook said. “When our guys stay within themselves, they can compete with anybody.”
Lake City (15-10) scored in the second inning as Grant Curtis came around to score on a throwing error.
“We can’t judge what our team has done by today’s game,” Bevacqua said. “Coeur d’Alene came out swinging today. Those kids proved how hard they work day in and day out. We’ve got such a great group of kids. This season was a lot of fun and that’s the way we’re going to end it.”
Coeur d’Alene junior Drew Turbin capped the scoring with an RBI triple in the fourth, setting a school record with seven triples this season. The Vikings also set a school record with 22 triples.
Lake City 010 00 — 1 3 0
Coeur d’Alene 204 7x — 13 12 3
Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule.
Ben Pharis, Scott Siebert (4) and Bryce Mort; Jake Pereira, Devon Austin (5) and Devon Austin, Kaleb DeHaas (5). W — Pereira (4-1). L — Pharis (1-1).
HITS: LC — Curtis, Pharis, Combo. Cd’A — Comack, Dunton, Nyquist 2, Pereira 2, Klatt, DeHaas, Lambert 2, Austin, Turbin. 2B — Dunton, DeHaas. 3B — Lambert, Turbin. HR — Austin (4).