Lums tie Dodgers in Legion opener

| May 24, 2014 9:00 PM

SPOKANE - First-year Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen coach Zach Clanton will have to wait for his first regular season win another day.

Or a loss for that matter.

Coeur d'Alene, which trailed 9-2 after the top of the third inning, rallied to take a 15-13 lead in the fifth before eventually finishing in a 15-15 tie in its season opener against the Spokane Dodgers in the Dodgers' Wood Bat tournament on Friday night at Central Valley High.

The game was called due to darkness after seven innings.

Devin Kluss hit a two-run double to tie the game at 13-13, followed by a two-run single by Shawn Montee to score Gibson Green and Kluss in the next at-bat to give Coeur d'Alene the lead in the fifth.

"I knew we'd be able to hit and they exceed my expectations," Clanton said. "We went down 9-2, and nobody flinched. They didn't panic and got back into the game."

The Dodgers' Nick Nyquist hit a sacrifice fly to make it 15-14 and Spokane tied the game as Branson Trube scored on an error in the top of the sixth. Nyquist, from Coeur d'Alene High, finished with three RBIs.

"The only thing we need to work on is when we have a big inning, we need to put up a zero," Clanton said. "They're one of the best teams we'll face all summer, regardless of who else we play. I was really impressed with how we played and am excited to see them compete the rest of the season."

Reggie Nault went 3 for 4 with three RBIs for Coeur d'Alene, which faces the Spokane Expos today at 10 a.m. at Central Valley High.

"I was really, really impressed with Reggie tonight," Clanton said. "Everything is 100 percent hustle with him."

Michael Hicks, who also played at Coeur d'Alene High, had four RBIs for Spokane.

Spokane 400 542 0 - 15 13 2

Coeur d'Alene 011 670 0 - 15 16 2

Brady Simmelink, Adam Matthews (5), Evan Douglas (7) and Kolby DeHaas; Elliott Sparks, Connor Cardinel (3) and Colton Gray.

HITS: Spo - Trube, Johnson 3, Nyquist, Hicks 3, DeHaas, Charlo, Mathews 3. Cd'A - Plum 2, Garza 3, Green 3, Kluss 3, Montee 2, Nault 3. 2B - Johnson, Hicks, Plum, Kluss.