STATE 5A BASEBALL TOURNAMENT: Just out of reach

BOISE — The Lake City baseball team played its first game in the Idaho state tournament since 2008 on Thursday.

Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, they faced the defending state champion Capital Eagles of Boise.

Experience won out in a tightly contested game, as Capital defeated Lake City 4-­0.

All of Capital’s runs came in the bottom of the third inning, and the biggest hit of the game resulted in a three-­run homer by Eagles shortstop Conner Poulson off Timberwolves starter Jordan Ross.

“It was up, the pitch was up,” Lake City coach Travis Georgius said. “And the kid made him pay, which is good, because it’s good for a pitcher to have to pay for pitches like that. It just reminds him that, ‘I have to be a little bit better.’”

And while Georgius said Ross learned a valuable lesson, he added that the rest of his players also might have gained some experience about preparing for a big game.

“Whether it was their emotions or their anxiety getting to them, I just felt like we were just kind of lethargic all game,” he said. “It was kind of weird to see after the couple of weeks that we’ve had.

We’ve been really good about being up and having our energy level (up).”

Part of the reason for that might have been Capital ace Colbi Paul, who went the distance for the Eagles. He allowed six hits in the shutout effort, striking out five and walking one.

“We had couple of good hits,” Georgius said. “But late in the game (Capital) made a couple of good plays. But that happens and that’s the stuff that we can’t let affect us. We just have to keep going and do our thing.”

Lake City catcher Reilly Cherry pointed the finger at himself after the game.

“I had a couple of opportunities to knock people in, people on base,” Cherry said. “My second at-bat, I unfortunately hit it hard right at them. I thought it was a good at­-bat, but he was just in the right spot at the right time. ... We couldn’t capitalize when we needed to.”

Meanwhile, Capital’s Poulson took advantage of his opportunity and essentially put the game away with one swing of his bat. Ironically, it was his first home run of the season.

“He’s got a pretty good reputation, and he hasn’t seen a whole lot of pitches to hit,” Capital coach Tony Brulotte said.

Unfortunately for Lake City, he saw one Thursday.

“That’s our senior. That’s our shortstop, our leader,” Brulotte said. “You expect big things out of those guys in big situations.”

Next up for Lake City is a Friday game against Highland of Pocatello. The Rams lost 9­-1 to Timberline of Boise in their first­round game.

“Shake it off,” Cherry said. “That’s exactly why we’re (at state). We’ve come from behind. … We’re a team that can bounce back, and we do. I have full confidence that we’re going to come back and win this next game.”

Capital’s Brulotte said Lake City could still make some noise in the tournament, even though its championship hopes have been dashed.

“They hit some balls hard right at us, so I’m not saying it was everything we did,” he said. “They hit some balls hard, and we were just able to make a few plays. I definitely think they can win some games. ... No question.”