Vikings slide past Lake City
COEUR d'ALENE - Coeur d'Alene High softball coach Larry Bieber told his team to start fast, but he probably couldn't have imagined as fast as his team struck on Tuesday afternoon.
Junior Abby Howard hit a solo home run leading off the game and Kayla Albertson homered leading off the second inning for the Vikings, which held on to beat the Lake City Timberwolves 4-3 in the 5A Inland Empire League opener for both at Lake City High.
"Abby has some power and speed, so we put her up front to see what she could do," Bieber said. "They don't know much about her as a player. She got a hold of one, and boy, what a way to start the game. Then, the next inning, Kayla hits one and we're in business."
Howard attended Lake City as a freshman, but did not play softball, before moving to Calfornia her sophomore year.
"I knew I had to bring it for my team," Howard said. "I needed to get things started to help beat this team. I think it's big motivation for us for the next couple of games, so we know we can beat these guys. To come out here and get the win is big for us."
Coeur d'Alene added another run in the second on a bases-loaded walk to Zoe Clark to go up 3-0. Brittany Gay of Lake City hit a solo home run to cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning.
"We left nine runners on in the game, and that's something we've got to fix," Bieber said.
It was the first home loss for Lake City since April 20, 2010, when the Vikings beat the Timberwolves 5-2 at Lake City.
"We had an opportunity to blow it out for a while," Bieber said. "But I'm really happy with this bunch. It's been a while since we've beat those guys."
Coeur d'Alene's last win against Lake City was in the state 5A title game in 2012. Lake City won all six meetings with Coeur d'Alene last year.
Kylie Rasmussen and Jadyn Behm had two hits apiece, and Rasmussen scored on a passed ball in the sixth inning for Coeur d'Alene (3-2), which travels to Lakeland on Thursday.
"We knew that we could put the ball in play against (Lake City pitcher) Jordyn (McCracken)," Bieber said. "But we really knew we could hit her, and that was important. I thought we'd be able to attack her pitching because we've been hitting good pitching. When we lost to Walla Walla (Saturday), that pitcher was a little slower, and changes speeds. But Jordyn brings it pretty good, so we knew we'd be able to put the ball in play."
Gay singled to score JaeCie Wilson in the fourth inning to pull Lake City within 3-2. After Coeur d'Alene scored in the top of the sixth, Vanessa Shippy scored on a groundout by Hailey Jackson in the bottom of the inning for Lake City (3-2), which travels to Lakeland today.
"Overall, both sides played a great game," Lake City coach Laura Tolzmann-Fierro said. "It was a good battle. Every time that we play each other this year, it's going to be the same way. It will come down to one error or one swing."
Sophomore Breana Burke struck out five for Coeur d'Alene and McCracken, a senior, fanned two for Lake City.
"I think she's going to be fine," Tolzmann-Fierro said of McCracken. "In the later innings, she pitched really well. It was just a matter of some other plays and we just need some practice time. Outside of games, we really haven't had much time on the dirt, so it was nice to see them diving in the dirt for stuff. Both sides are always going to battle. Us as a team, we're going to learn something each time we play them this year."
Coeur d'Alene 120 001 0 - 4 8 0
Lake City 010 101 0 - 3 4 2
Breana Burke and Abby Howard; Jordyn McCracken and Chloe Falciani. W - Burke (2-1). L - McCracken (3-2).
HITS: Cd'A - Howard, K. Albertson, Smith, Rasmussen 2, Behm 2, Parker. LC - Gay 2, J. Wilson. Shippy. 2B - Shippy. HR - Howard (1), K. Albertson (3).