THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Saturday was one of those days where it seemed like the smart idea to get whatever you can as far as scheduling games.
Fortunately with the way the weather was — sunny and warm — they were able to do that.
And now, with things coming to a close in the coming weeks, it could have been the time when things turn for the better for area teams.
AREA SCHOOLS opened league play over the weekend with the Coeur d’Alene baseball team taking two at Post Falls, and Lake City splitting with Lewiston in Coeur d’Alene. Lake City’s softball team also took a pair from Lewiston to open 5A Inland Empire League play on Saturday.
In Intermountain League play, the Timberlake baseball team swept Kellogg in Spirit Lake, something that first-year coach Matt George feels could help them progress through the rest of the schedule.
“We put the ball in play very well,” said George, whose team won 9-3 and 7-0. “Our pitchers did an excellent job of controlling the games, throwing strikes and working ahead of hitters.”
After hosting Priest River on Tuesday, Timberlake’s next test will come at Bonners Ferry on Saturday in a doubleheader. Bonners Ferry also swept to open league play against visiting Priest River last Saturday.
“The boys are just having a ton of fun playing baseball right now,” George said. “They play hard. Real hard. Top to bottom, every kid on the team is just a tough out at the plate. The bottom of the lineup just continues to manufacture runs.”
The 3A District 1 tournament begins on May 9 at Timberlake High.
IN A bit of a scheduling quirk last week, Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston played an unofficial home and home series in tennis, with the Vikings going to Lewiston on April 13 and the Bengals coming to town April 16.
Saturday’s match went a little better for Coeur d’Alene, especially in girls doubles where the Vikings swept the Bengals after being swept in the previous matchup.
“Both doubles team felt they could have won, and just battled to win,” Coeur d’Alene girls tennis coach Laura Taylor said. “Lauren (Carlsen) and Sara (Swider) played some great tennis as well. Kim (Gunnerson) got us a win in girls singles that we didn’t get in the previous matchup. As far as the girls, we played great today. I’m excited for all of them.”
Lewiston beat Coeur d’Alene 7-5 on Saturday after winning 9-3 in Lewiston in the previous matchup.
Post Falls, in an effort to simulate what they’ll see at the regional tournament as well as state, hosted a tournament featuring Sandpoint, Moscow and Cheney.
“Tournament-wise, we knew we were bringing in three teams that were a little better than us,” Post Falls coach Kirk Hartzell said. “We were a little outmatched, but we don’t have many tournament opportunities. We usually play exclusively dual matches. It’s good for our kids to have a chance to play all day.”
The day began will pool play matches, with individuals and teams being placed in groups of three and once they completed that, continued in bracket play.
“They played each other and played nine games in pool play,” Hartzell said. “However many games they won, that’s how they were seeded. We just added them up and worked our way down. It was a really good day for the kids, but it was a grind. It seemed like every score was 6-4 with a tiebreaker, but some really good tennis was played.”
Helped a little more by some better weather, for a change.
If it remains the same way, there’s no telling just where these teams can go from here.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.