THE FRONT ROW WITH GARRETT CABEZA: Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015

It had been 10 years since the American Legion baseball AA Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen team had hosted the state tournament.

But the Lumbermen hosted it last week at their home field - Thorco Field.

THE TOURNAMENT itself was probably one of the most exciting ones in a while with so many tight ball games and the state championship game was decided by one run.

"I think it's a good thing to expose North Idaho," said John Wade, President of Coeur d'Alene American Legion baseball. "It seems like most everything happens in the southern part of the state. We're very happy to have people come up and see that we can play competitive baseball. We can show off our city a little bit and Thorco. I'm pretty proud of this place."

Wade said he is proud of the volunteers who stepped up by cooking burgers and running the entrance gates. He said parents from all four of the Coeur d'Alene American Legion teams volunteered at the tournament.

The AA Lumbermen went 0-2 in the tournament, but the players and coaches, including Coeur d'Alene coach Zach Clanton, continued to help out because they were the hosts.

"Zach has done a great job of getting the players here, helping us run gate and scoreboard and that type of thing," Wade said. "I'm very proud of him and the team in retrospect of what happened, going two and out in the (tournament). They're still here doing field work. They're still here every game prepping the field, sitting at a gate for three or four hours collecting money, and that all goes toward the program. So I'm very appreciative of that. It's not me, it's not the board, it's all of our volunteers and our players and the coaches. They come together and make this program work."

Clanton said they have a great group of parents this season.

"The parents and the board members have been here sun up to sundown it seems like," Clanton said. "People that don't have to be here have been here. They end up just doing the job because they want to watch baseball and they might as well just help out while they're here. I think it's been great."

Nampa Chiefs coach Ryan Bobo said Coeur d'Alene has done a great job hosting, but that a hotel was difficult to find in Coeur d'Alene.

"We had to stay in Spokane Valley because everything was full here," Bobo said. "We've had a little bit of a drive every day. They've done a great job. They work hard to get the field ready."

But why did Coeur d'Alene get the chance to host state this season after 10 years of not hosting at the AA level?

Well, there's a bidding process.

There are three "areas" in Idaho American Legion baseball - Area A (northern Idaho), Area B (southern Idaho) and Area C (southeastern Idaho).

One of the areas gets the opportunity to host state each year. The order to host state goes Area A, B, C and then B again, since southern Idaho has more teams than the other districts.

The Boise Gems will host state next year at Timberline High School.

Derrick Ater, chairman of Idaho American Legion baseball, has held that position for 13 years and this season's state tournament is his 13th as chairman. He said Coeur d'Alene has done a great job as host.

"I think they've done an excellent job," Ater said. "It varies from area to area, but the facilities are fine, the support is strong, there's a lot of volunteers here."

Ater's American Legion post is in Lewiston but he lives in Asotin, Wash.

Ater said the Lewis-Clark Twins, who play their home games at Lewis-Clark State College's Harris Field in Lewiston, consistently bid to host state when it is Area A's turn to host.

This year Coeur d'Alene got the nod to host.

Ater said Lewis-Clark hosts state a lot when it is Area A's turn to host because Coeur d'Alene doesn't bid every year and Prairie hasn't bid in the last 10 years or so.

Even though Harris Field, where the NAIA World Series has been held over the years, is an ideal place to host a state tournament, Ater said a few things make a good tournament.

"A good tournament has good umpires, gracious hosts, good baseball," Ater said. "You get that, you got a good ball game."

Garrett Cabeza is a sports intern for The Press. Contact him at gcabeza@cdapress.com.