THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Sunday, May 17

You had to think Capital High shortstop Conner Poulson derived even just a little bit of satisfaction from helping his Eagles beat Lake City in the first round of the state 5A baseball tournament in Boise on Thursday.

Name sound familiar?

Last fall, Poulson was the Capital High quarterback who was stopped by Lake City inches short of the goal line three straight times from the 1 in the state 5A football quarterfinals at Lake City.

Capital players and coaches were furious afterward, saying Poulson had to have scored at least once, if not all three times. But even if he had, there was so much humanity near the goal line that it was difficult to definitively see that he scored. And referees, like journalists, are taught never to assume.

Lake City went on to the semifinals, where the Timberwolves lost at Mountain View of Meridian, which then lost to Highland of Pocatello in the championship game.

Fast forward to a few days ago, where Poulson again played a key role in a game against Lake City. This time, he was on the winning end, as Capital won 4-0. Not only that, he contributed the biggest hit of the game, a three-run homer in a four-run third inning.

CHATTING WITH Larry Bieber last week, we talked about a lot of things that had nothing to do with coaching softball, which he has done at Coeur d'Alene for a little more than two decades. He retired as coach at the end of the Vikings' softball season, which ended in a second-place finish at the state 5A tournament in Post Falls which concluded Saturday.

Anyway, one of my memories of "Bieb" had nothing to do with softball. It was back when he was the Vikings' boys basketball coach, and I was still working at the Daily Bee in Sandpoint.

In 1998, I believe, when Coeur d'Alene-Sandpoint games were still a big deal, he brought a good Viking squad into Sandpoint and managed to beat a fired-up Bulldog squad in front of a hostile crowd.

After the game, I walked into the visitors' locker room to interview him. I noticed the dry-erase board still listed his game instructions for the team.

I asked him why he hadn't erased his instructions, so Sandpoint people coming in later didn't see them.

Turns out, instead of using a dry-erase pen, he had accidentally used a permanent marker -- so those words weren't going away anytime soon.

For a coach known for his many inspirational sayings to his teams, talk about making your message stick.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.