Timberwolves enjoy clinching state berth

COEUR d'ALENE - After the final out was recorded and the championship trophy for the 5A Region 1 softball tournament was awarded, the Lake City Timberwolves lingered on the field, hugging and posing for photos, as you might expect.

Then they hugged and posed for more photos.

Then hugged and posed for more photos.

There's still work to be done next week at state, but the Timberwolves were going to enjoy this one for as long as they could.

"It's just a competitive, hard-working, all-out group this year," Lake City coach Laura Tolzmann said. "We talk before every game - all-out, all game, all season. I thought everyone on our team was focused; we knew we had a job to do - we wanted to finish strong heading into state."

With the 5-0 victory over city rival Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday afternoon, host Lake City (23-0) advanced to state May 20-21 at Post Falls High. The Timberwolves open Friday at noon vs. the fifth-place team from the District 3 tournament.

Coeur d'Alene (14-7), which beat Lewiston 3-2 earlier in the day, will play host to the Bengals (15-9) again on Thursday at 4 p.m. for the region's second berth to state.

Lewiston eliminated Post Falls (5-19) with a 13-2 victory. Earlier, Lake City beat Post Falls 7-0.

Lake City 5, Coeur d’Alene 0: Sophomore Casey Stangel broke her own school record by one with 18 strikeouts — giving her 34 Ks in two games Tuesday — and she slammed a solo homer over the lein in the first inning.

“She threw some hard balls; I’ve never seen her throw that hard, and never seen her that focused,” sophomore catcher Mariah Linahan said. “She’s an amazing pitcher and I’m glad to catch her.”

Linahan hit a solo homer to center field in the fourth inning to make it 3-0. In the fifth, Dakota Wilson tripled and scored on a groundout, and Becky Short singled in Hailey Jackson, who had doubled, for the game’s final run.

“Honestly, I think this (regional) title brings us more together,” Linahan said. “We have done so much together, and this just proves we don’t have to rely on one person, we can rely on anybody. We’re a whole team. It just means everything to know that we’ve been undefeated, and now we’re going to state.”

It’s a young T-Wolf team with just one senior starter (Short). On Tuesday, the T-Wolves started three freshmen, two sophomores and four juniors.

Coeur d’Alene coach Larry Bieber went with junior Nikki Ragsdale to pitch the title game, noting she had a better ERA vs. Lake City this season. But she gave up two first-inning runs — one the homer by Stangel — and was replaced after six batters by Lindsie Scholwinski.

Coeur d’Alene’s lone hit came with one out in the fourth inning, a single to center field by Elli Tindall.

“I think the whole deal in a nutshell is, we were satisfied that we had beaten Lewiston (earlier Tuesday),” Bieber said. “We didn’t come to play (against Lake City). The last time we played them, we competed.”

Lake City is now 5-0 vs. Coeur d’Alene this season with five shutouts, all by Stangel. The Timberwolves have outscored the Vikings 30-0.

Coeur d’Alene 000 000 0 — 0 1 1

Lake City 200 102 x — 5 8 0

Nikki Ragsdale, Lindsie Scholwinski (1), Ragsdale (6) and Teigan Lockwood; Casey Stangel and Mariah Linahan. W — Stangel (22-0). L — Ragsdale (6-3).

HITS: Cd’A — Tindall. LC — Short, Stangel, Rowe 2, Wilson, Linahan, Jackson 2. 2B — Rowe, Jackson. 3B — Wilson. HR — Stangel (10).

Lake City 7, Post Falls 0: Stangel struck out 16 for the Timberwolves, and Vanessa Shippy drove in three runs, two on a home run in the fourth inning. Becky Short was 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI.

Post Falls 000 000 0 — 0 3 0

Lake City 002 500 x — 7 10 0

Rachel Collins and Dara Kolar; Casey Stangel and Mariah Linahan. W — Stangel (21-0). L — Collins (5-13).

HITS: PF — King 2, Schuler. LC — Short 3, Shippy 2, Rowe, Edwards 2, Jackson 2. 2B — King, Edwards, Jackson. HR — Shippy (1).

Coeur d’Alene 3, Lewiston 2: Trailing 2-0, the Vikings produced all three of their runs and all three of their hits in the fourth inning. RBI doubles by Scholwinski and Hailey Petit tied the game, and Petit scored on a throwing error for the go-ahead run. Scholwinski saved many of her 10 strikeouts for critical moments in the game.

Lewiston 100 100 0 — 2 8 3

Coeur d’Alene 000 300 x — 3 3 1

Shawnee Zink and Shaundee Garrett; Lindsie Scholwinski and Teigan Lockwood. W — Scholwinski (8-4). L — Zink.

HITS: Lew, Parson 3, Wells, Garrett 2, Young, Zink. Cd’A, Lupinacci, Scholwinski, Petit. 2B — Parson, Scholwinski, Petit.

Lewiston 13, Post Falls 2: Shawnee Zink had five RBIs as the third-seeded Bengals eliminated the fourth-seeded Trojans in a loser-out game at Finucane Park.

“The first inning killed us today,” Post Falls coach Jack Foster said. “We had played pretty well against Lake City, but had four errors in the first inning (against Lewiston). It really opened the flood gates for them and they took advantage of it. The kids battled all day and year long. It’s been a long, tough year, but the kids didn’t give up and they hung with it.”

Kendal Floch and Haley Walker had RBI singles for Post Falls, which finished 5-19.

Post Falls 002 000 — 2 9 6

Lewiston 810 103 — 13 16 0

Game called in 6th inning due to 10-run rule.

Rachel Collins and Dara Kolar; Alyssa Huffaker and Shaundee Garrett. W — Huffaker. L — Collins (5-14).

HITS: PF — King, Booth, Collins 2, Floch, Walker 2, Schuler 2. Lew — Parson 3, Zink 3, Garrett 3, Wells 2, Thomason, Huffaker, Johnson 2, Moscrip. 2B — Johnson. HR — Zink, Garrett.

Moscow 6

Lakeland 2

RATHDRUM — Raelynn Gosse struck out eight and pitched a four-hitter, and the visiting Bears took advantage of six Lakeland errors to surprise the Hawks in the first round of the 4A Region 1 tournament.

Four Lakeland errors and several passed balls led to five Moscow runs in the fifth inning.

“Moscow came out and played hard,” Lakeland coach Colleen Bevacqua said. “We just need to clean up our errors and get the bats going.”

Earlier Tuesday, Moscow (10-11) defeated Sandpoint 7-4.

On Thursday, Lakeland (8-9) plays host to Sandpoint (0-18) in a loser-out game at 4. The winner advances to the championship round on Saturday, where they must beat Moscow twice.

Moscow 000 150 0 — 6 10 2

Lakeland 002 000 0 — 2 4 6

Raelynn Gosse and Dezerae Maxey; Ashley Metcalf and Teri Glenn, Alia Cox (6). W — Gosse. L — Metcalf.

HITS: Mos — Westberg, Maxey 3, Adams 2, Hicks 2, Redinger, Baker. LL — Kastning, Cox, Klopatek, Schlabach. 2B — Hicks, Baker.