CLASS AA STATE LEGION TOURNAMENT: One big, bad inning
<p>Coeur d’Alene player Jarred Hall, tags out Meridian player Talon Keft in the American Legion Idaho State AA tournament in Coeur d’Alene Tuesday.</p>
<p>Players at the Idaho State AA tournament line up on Thorco Field Tuesday afternoon at the opening ceremony.</p>
<p>Dom Conigliaro of Coeur d’Alene dives to field a ball at first base Tuesday at Thrco Field.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE — Lumbermen coach Zach Clanton knew last week that to be successful in the class AA state American Legion baseball tournament, his team was going to have to avoid the big inning.
On Tuesday night, there wasn’t a bigger one than that top of the sixth inning.
After loading the bases on three hit batsmen, the Meridian Rangers took advantage with an RBI single by Talon Kreft and two-run singles by Nathan Pena and Aahron Coats, pushing a pitchers duel into a 5-0 lead and 5-0 win in the opening round at Thorco Field.
Sam Slusser struck out 14 in a complete-game loss for Coeur d’Alene. The tough-luck righthander hasn’t won a decision since the title game of the Missoula Mavericks Memorial Day tournament in May.
“That’s been the story this year for Sam unfortunately,” Clanton said. “Each time he’s taken the mound, he’s dominated. And he’s been able to avoid the big inning. I’m very superstitious and it just happened that he got a ground ball, but it bounced 40 feet into the air and they scored a run. He did what he was supposed to do. It’s unfortunate it came out like this.”
Meridian (23-13) will face the Twin Falls Cowboys (35-17) tonight at 7 in a second-round game.
Coeur d’Alene (30-21) will play the Boise Gems (25-17) today at 1 p.m. in a loser-out game.
Meridian lefty Blake McFadden struck out six of the first nine Lumbermen hitters and finished with 11 strikeouts in eight innings. McFadden pitched three no-hit innings before Devin Kluss’ single to center with two out in the bottom of the fourth.
“He’s been amazing for us all year long,” Meridian coach Rod Williams said. “He’s ultra competitive and it’s not the first time he’s shut down big offensive teams like this.”
Coeur d’Alene’s Steven Vaudreuil doubled with one out in the eighth inning, but was stranded at third as Gibson Green flew out to end the inning.
Slusser struck out seven through the first four innings for Coeur d’Alene.
“I was a little nervous, but just wanted to do the best I could for my team,” Slusser said. “They had a dude that could throw as well and we just couldn’t get the bats going.”
After allowing a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth, Slusser pitched his way out of trouble, getting Chase Labbe to ground into a double play to end the inning.
“I thought he pitched fantastic,” Williams said of Slusser. “He competed and mixed his pitches really well. He had three pitches and did just a fantastic job.”
Clanton believes the Lums can bounce back, but they’ll need to swing the bats to do so.
“We’ve got to come back from the dead,” Clanton said. “Some of the greatest games I’ve been a part of as a player have came against the Boise Gems. We’ve got to hit a lot better than we did today. We’re capable of making some noise, but it’s their choice how far they will go.”
Meridian 000 005 000 — 5 6 2
Coeur d’Alene 000 000 000 — 0 2 1
Blake McFadden, Nathan Pena (9) and Chase Labbe; Sam Slusser and Grant Wade. W — McFadden (6-0). L — Slusser (1-5).
HITS: Mer — Staggs, Dibben, Krefft 2, Pena, Coats. Cd’A — Kluss, Vaudreuil. 2B — Vaudreuil.
Lewis-Clark Twins 2, Nampa Chiefs 1: Kade Woods struck out nine in seven innings as the Twins beat the Chiefs.
Lewis-Clark 100 100 00x — 2 5 0
Nampa 000 000 100 — 1 9 2
Kade Woods, Austen Jones (8) and Jessup Scott; Mack Mishou, Paul Gourley (7) and catcher not provided. W — Woods. L — Mishou.
HITS: L-C — Gay, White, Phillips, Wilson, Stamper. Nampa — Hammudeh 2, Vickers 2, Harris 2, Torres-Moore, Swainston, Pearod. 2B — Gay, Phillips, Harris.
Boise Capitals 14, Pocatello Runnin’ Rebels 9: Nolan Jekich went 5 for 6 with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the fifth, for the Capitals. Kam Farnsworth and Dylan Mansanerez each hit two-run homers for Pocatello.
Boise 101 141 150 — 14 17 5
Pocatello 010 200 024 — 9 9 4
Colbi Paul, Sam Malinowski (8) and catcher not provided; Cal Norby, Chase Teeter (5), Saben Rodriguez (8) and CC Burrup (9) and catcher not provided. W — Paul. L — Norby.
HITS: Boise — B. Jekich 2, Godeny, Paulson 2, Weindel 2, N. Jekich 5, Haggerty 2, Roberts, Young 2, Newell 2. Pocatello — Hunt, Mansanerez, Hall 3, Farnsworth, Lamont 3, Burrup. 2B — B. Jekich, N. Jekich, Young, Hunt, Burrup. HR — N. Jekich, Mansanerez, Hall, Farnsworth, Lamont.
Twin Falls Cowboys 4, Boise Gems 2, 11 inn.: Ryan Eller’s two-run single in the 11th lifted the Cowboys past the Gems. Twin Falls tied it with two in the top of the ninth, drawing even on R.J. Scovel’s sacrifice fly.
Twin Falls 000 000 002 02 — 4 5 1
Boise 100 000 100 00 — 2 10 3
Nathan Buckner, Trey Steffler (10) and Jacob Randall; Kaleb Jones, Braden Stutzman (9) and Stutzman. W — Stutzman. L — Steffler.
HITS: Boise — Harris 2, Steffler 2, Price, Lamb, Engelson 2, Cobos, Herberg. TF — Brann, Jones, Hoggarth, Kent 2, 2B — Jones, Kent.