Lumbermen win one, lose one at Seattle-area tourney

The Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen split in pool play games on Friday, beating the Kirkland Merchants 1-0 before falling to the Seattle Stars 7-0 in the late game at Husky Ballpark on the campus of the University on Washington in Seattle.

Against the Merchants, at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue, Parker Gabrielson pitched a complete game three-hitter for Coeur d'Alene, which scored the game's lone run on an RBI single by Colton Gray to score Dominic Conigliaro in the fourth inning.

"It was definitely encouraging for us," Coeur d'Alene coach Zach Clanton said. "It was good for us to win that kind of a close game going into districts - building some momentum and being able to beat them in different ways. Parker didn't flinch and threw strikes in the seventh inning like he did in the first."

Later, the Seattle Stars beat the Lumbermen 7-0, dropping Coeur d'Alene to 2-2 in pool play.

"I was really happy with how the guys competed," Clanton said. "We had too many walks, but was encouraged with how they held themselves. Those teams are built for tournaments like this and had eight left-handed hitters ready for us, and had eight right-handers in case we pitched a lefty. We came into the tournament a little shorthanded due to injury, but I was happy with how we competed, although we were a little starry-eyed playing at U-Dub tonight."

Coeur d'Alene (17-23) concludes pool play today against Mudville Pinnacle at noon at Rainier Beach High in Seattle and against TC Saints American at 4 p.m. at Interlake High in Bellevue.