5A REGION 1 SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Lake City stuns Cd'A
<p>JAKE PARRISH/Press Surronded by teammates, Lake City's Michaela Flerchinger holds up the 5A Division 1 Championship softball trophy after trumping undfeated Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday at Coeur d'Alene High School. Lake City will advance to the state tournament next Friday at Bonneville High School in Idaho Falls.</p>
<p>JAKE PARRISH/Press Lake City's Emma Gray has a close call at second as she is nearly tagged out by Coeur d'Alene's Kylie Smith during the 5A District 1 Championship game on Tuesday at Coeur d'Alene High School.</p>
COEUR d’ALENE — They’re proud.
They’re overjoyed.
And the Lake City Timberwolves are now 5A Region 1 softball champions.
Lake City (19-6) broke open a 3-0 lead with a four-run fourth inning, keyed by a two-run triple by Reilly Williams and RBI single by Heather Hawkes to beat the previously unbeaten Coeur d’Alene Vikings 7-2 in the regional championship game to advance to the state tournament starting next Friday at Bonneville High in Idaho Falls.
Coeur d’Alene (21-1) will host Post Falls (14-10) in a loser-out game on Thursday, with that winniner advancing to a state play-in game on Saturday in Lewiston against the fifth seed from District 3 (Boise area).
Post Falls eliminated Lewiston 9-3 in other regional play at Lake City High. The Bengals finished 9-15.
Lake City 7, Coeur d’Alene 2: Earlier in the day, freshman Ashley Kaufman was told she’d be starting in the circle if the Timberwolves advanced to the championship game.
And she delivered, striking out seven and also delivering an RBI double to give the Timberwolves a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
“I was nervous, but tried to keep my cool,” Kaufman said. “They’re a very good team. It was pretty nerve-wracking. I didn’t know until today that I was pitching, but it’s an awesome feeling to get this win.”
Lake City had lost 12 straight games to Coeur d’Alene, with its last win coming against Coeur d’Alene in the 2014 state tournament third-place game.
“A.K. (Ashley Kaufman) threw the ball great today,” second-year Lake City coach Jesse Lenz said. “Kaya (Michaela Flerchinger) gave everything she had in that (9-1 win against Post Falls in the opening round) to get us here. She’s been fighting an injury bug and she gave us everything she had to get us here. We’re overjoyed, proud and excited.”
Ally Dement, Emma Gray and Heather Hawkes had two hits each for Lake City, which opens at state against the third-place finisher from District 3 next Friday at 8 a.m. at Bonneville High. It is Lake City’s eighth straight trip to state.
“It felt really good,” Kaufman said. “We played really well as a team. It’s an awesome feeling. It didn’t matter where it happened, but the best part was that it happened.”
“We had a plan all year and knew that Coeur d’Alene hadn’t seen her (Kaufman) much,” Lenz said. “That’s the most runs we’ve scored against (Coeur d’Alene pitcher) Bre (ana Burke). They got us four times during the season, and my girls kept fighting back. I couldn’t be more proud of this group. We’re young, but excited. They’re buying in and playing hard.”
“We weren’t ready to play in that game,” Coeur d’Alene coach Darren Taylor said. “I think when you keep winning, the pressure keeps building and you think you can show up and the game is going to take care of itself. Lesson learned by us and we’ve got a little tougher path down to Idaho Falls.”
Kylie Smith and Betty Comack had two hits each for Coeur d’Alene.
“She throws that rise ball really fast and then the curve off the side of the plate,” Taylor said of Kaufman. “We chased a lot of stuff out of the zone, but she’s good. She throws hard and off-speed and she’s tough. When we’d play them, they’d never threw her for a full game against us and I’d always wonder why. Well, that’s why. He saved it for the one they needed to win.”
LAKE CITY 7, COEUR d’ALENE 2
Lake City 201 400 0 — 7 12 0
Coeur d’Alene 000 110 0 — 2 7 4
Ashley Kaufman and Reilly Williams; Breana Burke and Miranda Amos. W — Kaufman. L — Burke.
HITS: LC — Cavanagh, Cook, Gray 2, Dement 2, Hawkes 2, Kaufman, Beamer, Loffer, Williams. 2B — Gray, Kaufman. 3B — Williams.
Post Falls 9, Lewiston 3: No other information was provided.
Lake City 9, Post Falls 1: Bailey Cavanagh had three RBIs and Michaela Flerchinger struck out seven for the Timberwolves in an opening round win against the Trojans.
Brooke Bowers hit an RBI single in the first inning for Post Falls.
Post Falls 100 000 0 — 1 4 4
Lake City 104 310 x — 9 12 1
Amanda Rouse and Allison Morris; Michaela Flerchinger and Reilly Williams. W — Flerchinger. L — Rouse.
HITS: PF — Goleeke, Gleaves, Melton, Bowers. LC — Loffer, Hawkes, Williams, Cavanagh 3, Cook, Gray 2, Beamer, Dement. 2B — Melton, Loffer, Beamer. 3B — Gleaves.
Coeur d’Alene 10, Lewiston 0: Breana Burke struck out 10 in a five-inning no-hitter as the Vikings (21-0) beat the visiting Bengals (9-14) in an opening round game.
Miranda Amos and Betty Comack drove in two runs each in the win for Coeur d’Alene.
COEUR d’ALENE 10, LEWISTON 0
Lewiston 000 00 — 0 0 1
Coeur d’Alene 100 9x — 10 12 1
Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule.
Atwood, Carpenter; Breana Burke and Miranda Amos. W — Burke.
HITS: Lew — none. Cd’A — Montee, Donovan, Smith 2, Burke 2, Wilkey 2, Amos, Kane, Comack, Taylor. 2B — Kane. 3B — Montee, Smith.