Vikings stun Eagle with 3-run 7th

BOISE - Down two runs and heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Coeur d'Alene Vikings were staring at another unhappy beginning to the state 5A baseball tournament.

But, moments later, the Vikings came alive with three runs to stun Eagle 6-5 in a first-round game Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.

"The kids are very resilient; they work hard and do everything they're asked," Coeur d'Alene coach Nick Rook said. "I knew once we got runners on, we had a good opportunity to tie it up."

Coeur d'Alene (20-5), which had lost in the first round each of the last two years, will play Madison (11-12) of Rexburg tonight at 6 PDT in a semifinal game. Highland (23-3) of Pocatello faces Timberline (15-11) of Boise in the other semi.

Rewind to the top of the seventh, when Kam Lane's RBI single, followed by a bases-loaded walk, put Eagle (17-9) up 5-3.

Gibson Green singled to left with one out to start the Coeur d'Alene comeback in the seventh. Levi Pereira doubled to right-center field, and Kolby DeHaas was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Nick Nyquist bounced a two-run double down the left-field line to tie the game, and Sean Sutton followed with a single to center to plate the winning run.

"We played very poor defensively tonight," said Rook, whose team committed five errors. "We had seven walks; we did not play our typical brand of basebal defensively. But the kids overcame it, they could have packed it in. The kids, the amount of time they've put in, and having older siblings that played in the program, over last few years there's a lot of experience for these kids."

District 3 (Boise area) teams went 1-4 on the first day of the 5A tourney. The only win came by Timberline, which beat Boise in a matchup of District 3 teams.

Eagle 100 101 2 - 5 8 1

Coeur d'Alene 010 110 3 - 6 11 5

Sean Sutton, Logan Brastrup (7) and Kolby DeHaas; Griffin Pape, J.T. Williams (5) and Kam Lane. W - Brastrup (3-1). L - Willliams (3-2).

HITS: Eag - Robinette, Lane, Williams 3, Schleinz, Speegle 2. Cd'A - Green, Pereira 3, Nyquist 3, Sutton 2, Kluss, Robbins. 2B - Williams, Pereira 2, Nyquist. 3B - Nyquist.

St. Maries 8

Melba 6

NAMPA - The Lumberjacks survived a wacky finish to win their first state tournament game as a 2A school.

St. Maries (17-2) led 6-1 after 3 1/2 innings, before two errors in the bottom of the fourth allowed Melba to pull within 6-5.

In the sixth, Dillon Michael scored on a passed ball, and when the catcher bobbled the ball trying to retrieve it from the backstop, D.J. Turner dug for home and scored as well for an 8-5 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, with the bases loaded and nobody out, a Melba batter hit a grounder to short. The baserunner from second ran into St. Maries shortstop Jordan Stapleton, who was trying to field the ball. The ball rolled into left center field, and Melba thought it had scored two runs to tie the game. However, the umpires called the Melba runner out for interference, and sent everyone else back to their bags.

Melba did score on a sacrifice fly, then loaded the bases with two outs before St. Maries reliever Dylan Wilson got the next batter to foul out to catcher Isaac Walters to end the game.

"It was crazy," St. Maries coach Craig Tefft said.

Michael went 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored for St. Maries, which plays Nampa Christian in the semifinals today at 3.

"The first one always seems likes it's the most gut-wrenching," Tefft said. "It's nice to know you're going to play on Saturday and have a chance to play for a trophy."

Grangeville, which lost to St. Maries in the District 1-2 title game, beat two-time defending champion Malad in its opener.

St. Maries 021 302 0 - 8 7 3

Melba 010 400 1 - 6 8 3

Jordan Stapleton, Dylan Wilson (7) and Isaac Walters; Tee Archuleta and Adam Saurey. W - Stapleton (6-0). L - Archuleta. S - Wilson (1).

HITS: SM - Michael 2, Turner, Walters, B. Stapleton, Maier, Macumber. Mel - Davies, Archuleta 2, Saurey 2, Talbot, Knight, Warfield. 2B - Michael, Knight.

Kimberly 10

Timberlake 0

FRUITLAND - The Tigers managed just three hits in losing their first-round game of the state 3A tournament at Fruitland High.

Timberlake (14-8) will face Payette in a loser-out game today at 9 a.m. PDT.

Kimberly (18-5) advances to face Snake River (19-2) in a semifinal game today.

No report was received from Timberlake.