Collision course

COEUR d’ALENE — Not surprisingly, they’ll meet again.

After two wins by each on Friday, the Coeur d’Alene Vikings and Lake City Timberwolves will meet again today at 10 a.m., with the winner advancing to the championship game of the state 5A tournament at Ramsey Park in Coeur d’Alene.

Coeur d’Alene, which defeated Highland of Pocatello 6-1 in the opener, beat the Eagle Mustangs 2-1 in nine innings to advance to the semifinal round. Lake City beat Rocky Mountain of Meridian 4-1 in its opener, then beat the Skyline Grizzlies of Idaho Falls 10-0 to advance.

“We’ve played them five times already, so we need to be focused on every pitch and every play,” Coeur d’Alene coach Larry Bieber said. “I know that we’re going to have to be on top of our game. Tomorrow’s the day and we need to concentrate on every play.”

“Our approach is still one game at a time,” Lake City coach Laura Tolzmann said. “That’s what we wanted. We wanted to play them at some point, and tomorrow’s that time.”

Coeur d’Alene 2, Eagle 1, 9 inn.: Coeur d’Alene pitcher Lindsie Scholwinksi struck out 16 and Eagle pitcher Bradie Fillmore had 14 as the teams combined for eight hits.

With a runner on second base because of the tiebreaker in extra innings, Coeur d’Alene junior Sydni Parker dropped a bunt and reached on an error, allowing Jadyn Behm to score the winning run in the ninth inning.

Eagle took a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Carley Strong, but the Vikings were able to tie the game on an RBI single by Kylie Rasmussen.

“We showed a lot of character coming back in the eighth inning,” Bieber said. “We didn’t let the air out and it was the bottom of the lineup that created the run. It just shows we’re peaking at the right time. Eagle had our number today and we hadn’t seen a good riseball all year and kept swinging under it. We made the adjustment and tried to do some things when we needed to at the right time.”

Eagle had chances to score in the sixth and seventh, but left runners stranded at third base.

“It was definitely a team effort,” Scholwinski said. “It couldn’t have happened without them. It was all about mental focus and staying tough, even after errors. I knew my defense was behind me, so I wanted to step it up a little bit more, knowing that if I leave a pitch hanging, they’re there to back me up.”

Eagle 000 000 010 — 1 4 1

Coeur d’Alene 000 000 011 — 2 4 0

None out when winning run scored.

Bradie Fillmore and Chloe Asroui; Lindsie Scholwinski and Rashell Shaffer. W — Scholwinski (15-4). L — Filmore.

HITS: Eag — Simons, Hingsberger, Gillmore, Strong. Cd’A — Rasmussen 2, Shaffer, B. Albertson. 2B — Strong. 3B — Fillmore.

Lake City 10, Skyline 0, 6 inn.: Amy Welsh had three RBIs and Casey Stangel struck out eight in a six inning no-hitter to get the Timberwolves into the semfinals.

“Casey hit well and I thought she threw the ball well today,” Tolzmann said. “She’s determined, dialed in and focused tomorrow and ready to go.”

With home runs against Rocky Mountain and Skyline, Stangel is one home run from tying the record for home runs (3 by Jessica Ulrich of Lewiston in 2008) in a tournament.

In the fifth inning, Lake City junior third baseman Hailey Jackson was shaken up attempting to steal second. Tolzmann said her status for today’s games is uncertain.

Lake City sophomore center fielder JaeCie Wilson finished the day with five hits and four runs scored on the day.

“After what happened last year, they took what is mine and I want it back,” Wilson said. “We’re just taking it step by step and game by game until we reach our goal.”

Skyline 000 000 — 0 0 2

Lake City 100 081 — 10 10 1

Game called in 6th inning due to 10-run rule.

Kylee Burnside and Mackenzie Jackman; Casey Stangel and Lindsey Willmon, Vanessa Shippy (5). W — Stangel (26-0). L — Burnside.

HITS: Sky — none. LC — J. Wilson 3, Stangel 2, Willmon, Gay, McCracken , Welsh 2. 2B — Willmon, Welsh 2. 3B — McCracken. HR — Stangel (16).

Lake City 4, Rocky Mountain 1: Stangel hit a two-run home run — her 15th of the season — over the fence in right-center in the first inning and struck out eight as the Timberwolves defeated the Grizzlies in their state opener.

Jordyn McCracken and Lindsey Willmon had RBIs in the fourth and fifth inning respectively for Lake City.

“I think it was a little bit of first round jitters early on,” Tolzman said. “We have some new people that are still a little new to the state tournament idea, but I know they’ll come through at some point. Casey threw the ball well, but we just need to get our bats going.”

“I thought we competed right with them,” Rocky Mountain coach Ron Dufur said. “Obviously we wanted to win, but our kids played hard. Their kids played hard and it was good to keep it as close as we did with the power they have in the lineup.”

Rocky Mountain 100 000 0 — 1 4 1

Lake City 200 110 x — 4 9 0

Hayden McKenney and Madison Tucker; Casey Stangel and Lindsey Willmon. W — Stangel (25-0). L — McKenney (18-7).

HITS: RM — Nebel, Nate, Cluff, Graham. LC — Shippy, J. Wilson 3, Stangel, Willmon 2, Jackson, Gay, McCracken. 2B — Willmon. HR — Stangel (15).

Coeur d’Alene 6, Highland 1: Rashell Shaffer hit a tiebreaking RBI double and Brooke Albertson had a two-run single in a four run fifth inning as the defending champion Vikings beat the Rams in their state opener.

“We finally started stringing some hits together,” Bieber said. “We were a little tight at the start of the game, but once we got rolling, we were OK. After the first two innings, we talked with them about getting in the batter’s box better and start to own it and we did that. Highland’s a good team and they could come back through. They’re a team we could see again definitely.”

Coeur d’Alene 001 041 0 — 6 5 1

Highland 000 100 0 — 1 4 0

Lindsie Scholwinski and Rashell Shaffer; Kali McMinn and Makenzie Van Sickle. W — Scholwinski (14-4). L — McMinn.

HITS: Cd’A — Clark, B. Albertson 2, Rasmussen, Shaffer. High — McMinn 2, Van Sickle, Livermore. 2B — Clark, Livermore.

Highland 14, Centennial 5 (loser out): Kali McGinn had two hits and scored three runs to lead the Rams past the Patriots in a loser out game.

Rocky Mountain 11, Boise 6, 8 inn. (loser out): Taylor Nate had three hits and two RBIs as the Grizzlies defeated the Braves in a loser out game.

Eagle 10, Centennial 1: Brandie Filmore struck out eight as the Mustangs defeated the Patriots in an opening round game.

Skyline 7, Boise 4: Megan Smith hit two solo home runs as the Grizzlies beat the Braves in the opening round.