The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT July 1, 2011
When it comes to the Fourth of July, there's nothing like a baseball game and some fireworks.
Luckily for a lot of local baseball fans, they'll get a chance to experience both in the next couple of days as the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane area is a hub for American Legion baseball with the annual Spokane-Coeur d'Alene Wood Bat Classic.
THE FIRST couple of years I went to watch the tournament in the Coeur d'Alene area, there was a lot of good competition.
Whether games are played with the usual aluminum or wood bats, they are fairly competitive.
With more than 50 teams coming to the area and playing in five different locations in the senior tournament and another eight in the junior tournament, there should be no problem finding a game all weekend.
Not to mention a bunch of MLB games on the television, and the day will be filled with more baseball than most can handle.
At the same time, the holiday also reminds me of how close the season is to coming to an end.
With the All-Star Game less than two weeks away, it also marks the impending conclusion of summer baseball for American Legion and Little League.
IT SEEMS like it just started a few days ago for the Coeur d'Alene and Prairie American Legion class AA baseball teams.
Believe it or not, both will be playing in their district (area) tournaments within three weeks.
In the case of the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen, they've prepared by traveling to tournaments in Montana, Oregon and Washington for what could come down the road.
"We really like to play as many different teams from our region as possible to prepare ourselves for what we'll see down the road," Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen coach Lloyd Duman said.
“If we don’t go to Omaha, the Best of the Northwest tournament is a good way to see a lot of those other northwest teams we don’t usually see.”
Prairie is playing tournament games this weekend at Jackson Field in Spokane in a pool with Kennewick, Billings (Mont.), Weber (Utah), the Spokane Blue Devils and Spokane Northstars.
“I am thankful to be put in a pod with these quality teams because they are comparable to the Lewis-Clark Twins and Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen,” Prairie coach Dustin Frank said. “Those are two teams we have to beat in order to make it to state, which is something we’ve been aiming for all summer.”
Prairie will travel to a tournament in Seattle the week before districts (the Area A tournament) in Trail, British Columbia, July 21-24.
“Every tournament we’ve played in this year has been extremely talented,” Frank said. “After this (Spokane-Cd’A classic) tournament, we head over to the Seattle area to play in a tough tournament where just about every player is a returning college player. That should be great preparation for districts.”
The top two teams from the class AA Area A tournament advance to state in Twin Falls July 28-31.
“Our team has been playing great baseball lately and we are excited to be tested this weekend,” Frank said. “All I ask my players to do is enjoy playing the game ‘right’ and give it everything they’ve got. If we can do those two things, the easy things like hitting, catching and throwing will take care of itself.”
Wherever it is, there’s nothing like a game in the sunshine.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].