THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, April 27, 2016
When it comes to league play in this part of the state, it’s kind of like a line from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
It moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around for a while, you could miss it.
How true that statement has been in the area baseball ranks.
LAST SATURDAY’s doubleheader between Timberlake and host Bonners Ferry matched the league’s lone unbeaten teams in the Intermountain League, with each sporting 3-0 league records coming into the day.
Bonners Ferry swept, improving to 5-0 with a doubleheader remaining at Kellogg and single games at Priest River and Timberlake.
In the opener, Vince Bennett struck out seven in a complete game three-hitter as the Badgers held off Timberlake 2-0.
“Bennett threw a great game for Bonners,” Timberlake coach Matt George said. “He kept us off balance all game and even when we did get runners on base, he did not let us get anything going.”
The combined effort of Derek Galloway and Jerrett Plunkett wasn’t too shabby for Timberlake either, with the two allowing six hits and two walks.
“Galloway threw well, as did Plunkett in relief,” George said. “They were just able to take advantage of two leadoff hitters reaching base. Bonners Ferry is a pretty solid baseball team that hits the ball well throughout the entire lineup.”
In the nightcap, Bonners Ferry outscored Timberlake 10-1 to improve to 5-0 in league. Timberlake, 3-2 played at Kellogg on Tuesday afternoon.
“They are just a good hitting ball club that threw two really good pitchers,” George said of Bonners Ferry. “That is a tough combination to beat. Our hat’s off to them for putting together two excellent games.”
IN HIS first year as head coach of Lake City High, Paul Manzardo — a former North Idaho College baseball coach has been impressed with the level of play in the 5A Inland Empire League.
“The league’s been real competitive,” Manzardo said, “which I’ve enjoyed as a coach. It’s for the kids of North Idaho. It’s getting better and better. Hopefully NIC brings something back in the near future because there’s a lot of really good players around here. I’m impressed with the level of players and teams we’ve been playing. All four teams in this league are solid opponents and could get to state and play well.”
Granted, it’s a small sample size considering that teams just started playing league games on April 16, but they’ll likely wind things up by next weekend in order to begin regional tournaments.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.