Post Falls Majors advance to semis

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Sam Schulze came up big when the rest of his Post Falls teammates needed him on Wednesday.

Schulze pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief - striking out three - and drove home Tanner McCliment-Call with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Post Falls Majors (11-12 year old) beat Cody (Wyo.) 1-0 at Al Houghton Stadium and finished 3-1 in pool play.

"He got the win on the mound, and the game-winning hit," Post Falls coach Dusty Pfennigs said. "We played very good defense, but just struggled a little bit at the plate. But good teams find a way to win, and we did that today.

Post Falls earned the No. 2 seed into the semifinals and will face third-seeded Billings (Mont.) today at 2 p.m. in a semifinal game to be broadcast on ESPN2. Post Falls beat Billings 12-2 in the opening round of pool play last Friday.

"Our kids are very excited," Pfennigs said. "We're very excited to represent not only Post Falls, but the entire state of Idaho."

Of playing Billings again, Pfennigs added that they're a different team than they faced last week.

"They're a well-coached team," Pfennigs said. "They started 0-2, but are on a roll now. They've got good fundamentals, but our kids are confident because of that win (last week)."