PREP BASEBALL: Lake City ends state drought

5A

Lake City 9

Vallivue 1

LEWISTON — Jordan Ross led the way at the plate and Sam Slusser did likewise on the mound as the Timberwolves beat the Falcons of Caldwell in a state 5A play-in game Saturday at Church Field.

Lake City (18-10) advances to state for the first time since 2008, and will play Capital (14-12) of Boise in its state opener Thursday at 9 a.m. PDT at Memorial Stadium in Boise.

“I told the guys, it’s been that process — the last three years have been to get to this point,” third-year Lake City coach Travis Georgius said. “For the seniors to get there (to state), I’m so happy for them.”

Ross went 4 for 5 and drove in three runs for Lake City, which lost its regional tournament opener, then won three straight to qualify for state.

Ross doubled and scored in the first inning, then hit a two-run double in the second inning. Stephen Vaudreuil hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot in the third, as Lake City increased its lead to 6-0.

Reilly Cherry went 3 for 4 and scored a pair of runs for the Timberwolves.

Slusser struck out seven, walked two and scattered six hits in a complete game.

“We started off pretty good at the plate, and Sam threw really well,” Georgius said. “We were hoping he could give us at least five, and he ended up going the distance. That was huge for us.”

Vallivue finished 17-11.

Lake City     132    000    3    —    9    12    1

Vallivue     000    010    0    —    1    6    2

Sam Slusser and Reilly Cherry; L. Laird, reliever unavailable and catcher unavailable. W — Slusser. L — Laird.

HITS: LC — Cherry 3, Conigliaro, Gabrielson, Garza, Ross 4, Vaudreuil, Manzardo. VV — Bowman, Longoria 2, Sutton, Vogt 1, Linder. 2B — Cherry, Gabrielson, Ross 2, Longoria, Linder. HR — Vaudreuil (1).

4A

Moscow 8

Lakeland 5

MOSCOW — Ryan Pote went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for the top-seeded Hawks, which lost to the third-seeded Bears in the championship game of the 4A Region 1 tournament.

“It was a tough one to lose today,” Lakeland coach Jason Bradbury said. “I was proud of the way my team battled though. We just couldn’t get the hits when we needed them. When we hit the ball hard, it was right at their defense.”

Lakeland (11-12) finished runner-up last year at state.

Lakeland    031    000    1    —    5    10    0

Moscow    122    003    x    —    8    17    0

Kenny Cooper, Brian Howell (3) and Tyler Utecht; Jake Randall and Alec Martin. W — Randall. L — Cooper.

HITS: LL — Pote 3, Cooper, McDaniel, Howell, Piva, Bodak 2, Zaken. Mos — Richardson 2, Gosse 2, Martin 2, Randall 2, Larson, Redinger, Shears 2, Knott 2, Howard 3. 2B — Richardson, Martin, Randall.

3A

Bonners Ferry 9

Weiser 8

GRANGEVILLE — Kevin Gray went 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored, helping the Badgers beat the Wolverines in a state 3A tournament play-in game.

Steve Anzalone went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Jesse Dunham scored three runs for Bonners Ferry (18-7), which opens the state tournament against Marsh Valley at 9 a.m. PDT at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Ore.

“It was a huge win,” Bonners Ferry coach Tom Turpin said. “We jumped on them early and they had a big third inning (scoring five runs to take a 6-5 lead), but we found a way. It was a tough game, but our kids played great.”

It is Bonners Ferry’s first appearance at state since 2011.

Bonners Ferry    302    310    0    —    9    9    3

Weiser    105    100    1    —    8    11    2

    Jesse Dunham, Vince Bennett (3) and Kevin Gray; Clandio, Kropp (4), Rowley (4) and Whitehurst. W — Bennett. L — Rowley.

    HITS: BF — Bateman, Dunham, Anzalone 2, Gering, Bennett 2, Gray. Weis — Rowley, Loomis 2, Pritchard, Kroop, Hickey, Whitehurst, Tunenie 2, McDaniel, Erlabach. 2B — Bateman, Anzalone, Gray. HR — Kroop.