Hungry like the wolves

POST FALLS — On Saturday afternoon, a pack of Wolves are going to leave Post Falls High School as the new state 5A softball champions.

It just depends if the Timberline Wolves (25-2) of Boise or the Lake City Timberwolves (25-0) will be the ones hoisting the gold trophy.

Lake City defeated Rocky Mountain of Meridian in its first game Friday 1-0 and rolled past Centennial 14-2 in five innings later in the afternoon to advance to the title game.

“We’re glad to be back here,” Lake City coach Laura Tolzmann said of the state title game. “It’s going to be a good game on both sides.”

Timberline defeated Coeur d’Alene 7-3 in its opening game and held off Mountain View of Meridian 4-1 in a semifinal matchup.

Coeur d’Alene (16-8), which fell in its opening game to Timberline, rallied in a loser-out game to defeat Highland of Pocatello 1-0 to advance to the consolation championship game against Rocky Mountain today at 11 a.m.

Lake City 14, Centennial 2, 5 inn.: After only producing three hits in a 1-0 win, the Lake City Timberwolves didn’t take long to get things going in a semifinal game with the Patriots.

Lefty-swinging Casey Stangel sent a pitch over the right field fence to give Lake City a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

“At first, they were throwing me inside,” Stangel said. “I knew in my first at-bat, I might get something to hit. I did and it was a good one.”

Avalon Leddy also homered in a five-run first inning for Lake City.

“We knew that we wanted to score first against them,” Tolzmann said. “Anyone in our lineup is capable of stepping up and getting a good hit. It’s been a different person all year. Our girls just wanted to get after it.”

Lake City 505 22 — 14 13 1

Centennial 101 00 — 2 3 1

Game called after 5 innings due to 10-run rule.

Casey Stangel and Mariah Linahan; Haillie Knife, Andrea Godina (1) and Sidney Hazen. W — Stangel (25-0). L — Knife.

HITS: LC — Short 2, Shippy 2, Stangel 2, Rowe 2, Leddy, Yurick 2, Linahan, Jackson, Wilson. Cen — Noehring, Anderson, Hazen. 2B — Shippy, Rowe. 3B — Yurick. HR — Stangel (12), Leddy (5).

Lake City 1, Rocky Mountain 0: Everything that could have gone wrong on Friday morning did for Lake City outfielder Dakota Wilson.

Her afternoon was pretty special for the Timberwolves.

Wilson, who showed up late for the team bus and was wearing the wrong uniform top to boot, hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning for the game’s only run.

“I was talking to my teammates in the dugout before and Casey (Stangel) told me to watch for a high one,” Wilson said. “I watched, saw it was a high one and got under it.”

Stangel finished with 10 strikeouts, one hit and one walk. Rocky Mountain pitcher Bree Shinall-Kopczynski struck out eight and allowed three hits.

“It was a great game by both pitchers,” Rocky Mountain coach Brian White said. “We haven’t seen anyone as fast as she (Stangel) was all season. She throws harder than anyone in the Treasure Valley. Our kids were confident against her. She’ll be tough to beat the next two years.”

Rocky Mountain 000 000 0 — 0 1 0

Lake City 000 010 x — 1 3 0

Bree Shinall-Kopczynski and Rachel Nebel; Casey Stangel and Mariah Linahan. W — Stangel (24-0). L — Shinall-Kopczynski.

HITS: RM — Nebel. LC — Wilson, Rowe, Stangel. 2B — Stangel. HR — Wilson (2).

Timberline 7, Coeur d’Alene 3: Timberline’s Erin Keen struck out nine for the Wolves.

“We didn’t throw any leather in that game,” Coeur d’Alene coach Larry Bieber said.

Coeur d’Alene pulled to within 2-1 after Kyeli Parker walked with the bases loaded. The Vikings scored two in the seventh on a throwing error and a fielder’s choice to score Elli Tindall.

Timberline scored four of its seven runs off Lindsie Scholwinski, who plays summer league softball with the Wolves.

“There was some familiarity there,” Timberline coach David Goodwin said. “We were aware of the good things she does. It’s definitely an advantage, but unless you can hit it, that won’t be an advantage.”

Coeur d’Alene 010 000 2 — 3 5 3

Timberline 200 221 x — 7 9 3

Lindsie Scholwinski, Nikki Ragsdale (5) and Rashell Shaffer, Teigan Lockwood (5); Erin Keen and Kendra Nagy. W — Keen. L — Scholwinski (9-5).

HITS: Cd’A — Parker 2, Rasmussen, Ragsdale 2. TL — Geyer 3, Menges 3, Keen, Prough, Nagy. 2B — Ragsdale, Nagy. 3B — Keen.

Coeur d’Alene 1, Highland 0: Scholwinski struck out nine and Kyeli Parker went 3 for 3 and scored the lone run on an RBI single by Scholwinski in the fourth inning as the Vikings eliminated the Rams.

“Parker is an ignitor for us,” Bieber said. “That’s what you want out of your leadoff hitter. We just need to do a better job at the plate with runners in scoring position.”

HIghland finished 25-4.

Coeur d’Alene 001 000 0 — 1 7 1

HIghland 000 000 0 — 0 3 2

Lindsie Scholwinski and Teigan Lockwood; Kali McMinn and Marisa Saldana. W — Scholwinski (10-5). L — McMinn (25-4).

HITS: Cd’A — K. Parker 3, Rasmussen, S. Parker, Scholwinski, Lupinacci. HL — Manu, Martin, Reed. 2B — Manu.

Other games — Mountain View 1, Highland 0: Michaela Barr had nine strikeouts as the Mavericks downed the Rams in the opening round. Sadey Barnes hit an RBI double in the second inning for the lone run of the game. ... Centennial 10, Eagle 0: Andrea Godina went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and Sydney Sperry went 3 for 4 with two RBIs as the Patriots defeated the Mustangs. ... Timberline 4, Mountain View 1: Kendra Nagy went 2 for 3 with an RBI triple as the Wolves advanced past the Mavericks in a semifinal game. ... Rocky Mountain 9, Eagle 0: Shayna Keele hit a two-run double in the seventh inning as the Grizzlies advanced past the Mustangs in a loser-out game.

Times PDT

At Post Falls High

Friday

Mountain View 1, Highland 0

Timberline 7, Coeur d’Alene 3

Centennial 10, Eagle 0

Lake City 1, Rocky Mountain 0

Coeur d’Alene 1, Highland 0, loser out

Timberline 4, Mountain View 1, semifinal

Rocky Mountain 9, Eagle 0, loser out

Lake City 14, Centennial 2, semifinal

Saturday

Coeur d’Alene (16-8) vs. Rocky Mountain (18-10), 11 a.m. (consolation championship)

Mountain View (22-5) vs. Centennial (16-10), 11 (third-place game)

Timberline (25-2) vs. Lake City (25-0), 1 p.m. (championship)

At Ramsey Park, Coeur d’Alene

Friday

Emmett 10, Pocatello 1

Jerome 5, Hillcrest 1

Columbia 2, Moscow 1

Twin Falls 8, Skyview 4

Hillcrest 5, Pocatello 2, loser out

Emmett 6, Jerome 1, semifinal

Skyview 5, Moscow 4, loser out

Columbia d. Twin Falls, semifinal

Saturday

Game 9 — Hillcrest (14-10) vs. Skyview (22-5), 11 a.m. (consolation championship)

Game 10 — Jerome (18-8) vs. Twin Falls (17-11), 11 (third-place game)

Game 11 — Emmett (16-7) vs. Columbia (18-11), 1 p.m. (championship)

At Ward Field, Pocatello

Friday

Homedale 4, Bear Lake 0

Timberlake 2, Sugar-Salem 1

Fruitland 10, St. Maries 0

Kimberly 12, Snake River 2

Sugar-Salem 1, Bear Lake 0, loser out

Homedale 10, Timberlake 3, semifinal

St. Maries 8, Snake River 4, loser out

Fruitland 6, Kimberly 5, semifinal

Saturday

Sugar-Salem (14-5) vs. St. Maries (11-10), 10 a.m. (consolation championship)

Timberlake (19-6) vs. Kimberly (20-5), 10 (third-place game)

Homedale vs. Fruitland, noon (championship)