PREP SOFTBALL: St. Maries punches ticket to state Coeur d'Alene girls win regional title

OROFINO - Jordan Stapleton struck out seven over seven innings as the St. Maries Lumberjacks earned a trip to state by defeating the Grangeville Bulldogs 8-3 in the 2A District 1-2 tournament championship game at Orofino High.

"I was real proud of Jordan," St. Maries coach Craig Tefft said. "He was named co-MVP of the league and just pitched a great game. Going seven innings in that heat was amazing and all the kids played good defense behind him."

St. Maries (16-2) will face Melba, the third-place team from District 3, on Thursday at 9 a.m. in the opening round of the state 2A tournament at Rodeo Park in Nampa. Last year, as a 3A school, the Lumberjacks finished fourth at state.

Issac Walters went 2 for 2 with three RBIs and Tyson Truscott was 2 for 2 with two RBIs for St. Maries.

Grangeville came back to win the second-place game to also earn a berth at state.

Grangeville 000 003 0 - 3 5 2

St. Maries 000 332 x - 8 7 1

Alex Coberstein, Cody Robinson (6) and Jack Lawrence; Jordan Stapleton and Isaac Walters. W - Stapleton (5-0). L - Coberstein.

HITS: Gra - Harris, Blackmer, Robinson, Wood 2. SM - Stapleton, Walters 2, Truscott 2, Maier, Macumber. 2B - Robinson.

Rocky Mountain 7

Lake City 5

LEWISTON - The Timberwolves got the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the seventh, but came up short in their bid to advance to the state 5A tournament, losing to the Grizzlies of Meridian 7-5 in a state play-in game at Church Field.

Mitch Bevacqua and Carter Chaffin had two hits each and J.J. Winger scored two runs for Lake City, which finishes 10-14.

Nick Becar hit a two-run home run to give Rocky Mountain a 7-2 lead after five innings.

"It was pretty close until the fifth inning," first-year Lake City coach Travis Georgius said. "We had a few mental errors and miscues early in the game, but came back and had some chances the entire game. It would have been nice to travel down south (for state), but we competed and that's all you can ask for."

Rocky Mountain (23-4) opens the state 5A tournament against Highland (22-2) on Thursday at Memorial Stadium in Boise.

Lake City 000 200 3 - 5 7 4

Rocky Mountain 011 140 x - 7 6 3

Austin Lake, Dominic Oliver (5), J.J. Winger (6) and Reilly Cherry; Josh Gasser, Johnny McNearney (6), Hunter Weindel (7) and Jarrett Strickler. W - Gasser. L - Lake (2-4).

HITS: LC - Garza, Bevacqua 2, Chaffin 2, Winger, Brandt. RM - Phoreal, Strickler, R. Becar, N. Becar, Cluff 2. 2B - Phoreal, Strickler. HR - N. Bears.

Moscow 8

Lakeland 7

MOSCOW - The Bears got a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat the Hawks in the 4A Region 1 title game.

Moscow (9-10) advances to state beginning Thursday at Bishop Kelly High in Boise.

Lakeland, which won the 4A Inland Empire League title, but was upset by Moscow in the semifinals at regionals, finished 17-5.