Lums win state tourney opener
* AA TOURNAMENT
LEWISTON - For the first seven innings of Thursday's state AA American Legion tournament game, the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen had a tough time figuring out how to put the pieces together against the Mountain View Toros of Meridian.
But with a 2-1 count, Chad Nyquist's three-run homer over the left field fence proved to be the missing piece as the Lumbermen beat the Toros 4-2 at Harris Field.
"We kept hitting fly-ball outs for six innings," Coeur d'Alene coach Lloyd Duman said. "We just couldn't quite put things together."
In the seventh, Sean Sutton led off with a single and was replaced by Brett Robbins. Robbins advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Kolby DeHaas. Garrett Cabeza walked and Colin Comack singled to score Robbins.
After a flyout, Nyquist drove a 2-1 pitch over the fence to give the Lumbermen a 4-2 lead.
"It just didn't seem like we were playing like ourselves," Duman said. "We started to settle down and play like we can play (after Nyquist's hit). It was nice to get the first-game jitters out of the way. We knew we could win it if we remained focused and we put it together for that inning."
Grant Curtis struck out three over seven innings before Comack took over on the mound in the eighth for Coeur d'Alene, which faces the Idaho Falls Bandits today at 4 p.m.
"We hear they swing it pretty well," said Duman of Idaho Falls. "Based on what we saw, I think they're going to be a good team. We're going to be throwing Pete (Hoffman) and see if we can get that second win."
Mountain View 110 000 000 - 2 10 0
Coeur d'Alene 000 000 40x - 4 8 1
Jason Maughan, Colton Sale (8) and Devon Pogue; Grant Curtis, Colin Comack (8) and Kolby DeHaas. W - Comack. L - Sale.
HITS: MV - Trube 3, Hafer, Garvin 2, Pogue, Odneal, Francis, Reilly. Cd'A - Comack 3, Roletto, C. Nyquist, Curtis, Sutton 2. HR - C. Nyquist.
Boise Gems 10
Prairie 3
LEWISTON - Nathan Collier hit a two-run double to give the Prairie Cardinals an early lead, but the team was unable to hold the advantage - committing seven errors in a 10-3 loss to the Boise Gems at Harris Field.
Tyler Shaffer had an RBI single in the ninth for Prairie (25-21), which faces Twin Falls today at 1 p.m. in a loser-out game.
Prairie 200 000 001 - 3 10 7
Boise 020 201 32x - 10 10 1
Joe Schwalbach, Zack Reeder (6), Nathan Collier (7), Darnell Metcalf and James Prockish, Darnell Metcalf (8); Thomas Barker, Bryan Johnson (8) and Kyle Kirschner. W - Barker. L - Schwalbach.
HITS: Pra - Cooper 2, Reeder 2, Metcalf 2, Collier, Shaffer 2, Valente. Boi - Ulias 2, Atkinson, Salas 3, Kirschner, Roper, Stefanic 2. 2B - Collier, Salas.
* A TOURNAMENT
Loggers, St. Maries drop state openers
POCATELLO - Carter Chaffin homered in his first at-bat since breaking his hand, but the Coeur d'Alene Loggers came up short in their state A tournament opener, falling 15-5 to the Idaho Falls Bees at Halliwell Park.
"Those guys just hit the ball," Coeur d'Alene coach Mike Bacon said. "If you throw it in the zone, they're going to hit it. We had a few plays where we didn't get to the ball and just didn't get after it today."
Parker Gabrielson went 1 for 3 with an RBI for Coeur d'Alene (23-23), which faces Emmett in a loser-out game today at noon PDT.
In other opening round action in Pocatello, the Rocky Mountain Avalanche of Meridian beat the St. Maries Savages 20-7.
St. Maries will face the Boise Gems in a loser-out game today at 9 a.m.