STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENTS: Lake City to play for state title
5A
BOISE — Sure, they’ve had their share of big hits at times this season.
But more often, the Lake City Timberwolves have chipped away at their opponents — a base hit here, a delayed steal there — to slowly separate themselves from their opponents.
That was the mode of attack on Friday, as Lake City blanked Highland of Pocatello 6-0 in the semifinals of the state 5A baseball tournament at Memorial Stadium.
Cody Garza scattered seven hits and pitched a shutout, Dominic Conigliaro went 3 for 4 and Jarred Hall drove in a pair of runs for Lake City (18-8), which is trying to win its second state title in school history. The T-Wolves won a state title in 2007, and were runners-up in 2004 and ’08.
Lake City (18-8) will play Meridian (18-12), which rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Lewiston (23-6) 5-4 in the other semifinal. Game time today has been moved up to 10 a.m. PDT in hopes of avoiding bad weather which has plagued state events across southern Idaho this weekend.
“The key to the win is just being able to score in almost every inning,” Lake City coach Paul Manzardo said. “We found ways to manufacture runs, put the pressure on them.”
In the second inning, Bennett Cunningham singled with the bases loaded to drive in the first run. Then Brandon Stapleton, who was hit by a pitch, eventually scored on an error.
Conigliaro tripled with one out in the third inning, and scored on Hall’s groundout. Kaleb Reid’s RBI single made it 4-0.
In the fourth, Kyle Manzardo singled, advanced to third on a single by Conigliaro, then scored on a delayed steal by Conigliaro.
In the sixth, Kodie Kolden singled with one out, stole second and scored on Garza’s RBI single.
“It was a great team win,” Paul Manzardo said. “We’re a real mature team, we have quite a bit of senior leadership, and they’re doing a great job, helping the team stay focused. We’re down here for one particular reason, to win a state title. We’re one game away from our ultimate goal.”
Meridian was the No. 8 seed in the 5A District 3 tournament, but has made it all the way to a state title game.
“They’re a lot like us,” Manzardo said. “They’re a pretty scrappy ballclub, a refuse to lose mentality. It’ll be a good matchup.”
Highland 000 000 0 — 0 7 3
Lake City 022 101 x — 6 10 0
Boyer and Eborn; Cody Garza and Grant Wade. W — Garza (5-2). L — Boyer.
HITS: High — Burrup, Boyer, Foltz 2, Shipley, Farnsworth, Chandler. LC — Kolden, Manzardo 2, Garza, Conigliaro 3, Hall, Reid, Cunningham. 3B — Conigliaro.
4A
Rain washes
out slate,
Lakeland from state
TWIN FALLS — The Lakeland Hawks were eliminated from the state 4A tournament by Mother Nature on Friday at Skip Walker Field in Twin Falls.
Due to rain throughout the day, the entire schedule of Friday’s games were washed out, including the Lakeland vs. Bishop Kelly loser-out game.
Due to the cancellations, the tournament opted to eliminate consolation rounds, as well as the third-place game from today’s schedule.
Middleton and Twin Falls will meet in the semifinals, with Minico facing Pocatello in the other semifinals. Those winners advance to the championship game later today.
Lakeland finishes 10-14 after losing 3-1 to Minico to open the tournament on Thursday.
3A
Homedale 10
Bonners Ferry 2
FRUITLAND — Drew Deal went 3 for 4 with three runs scored for the Trojans in a victory over the Badgers in a semifinal game of the state 3A tournament at Fruitland High.
The game, delayed 2 1/2 hours due to rain, was called in the fifth inning due to a modified 8-run rule in order to get all the tournament games completed as scheduled.
“We weren’t mentally prepared for today’s game,” Bonners Ferry coach Tom Turpin said. “Homedale was the better team today. It never helps when you’ve got to sit and wait, but when you get into these situations, you’ve got to play well. We gave them some extra outs in the first couple of innings, and you’ve got to be prepared for that. We didn’t feel like we played the best baseball we could today, and those errors come back to haunt you.”
Bonners Ferry (23-3) will face Weiser (17-10) in the third-place game today at noon. Homedale (18-6) will face tournament host Fruitland (21-7) in the championship game today.
Bonners Ferry 110 00 — 2 4 3
Homedale 310 15 — 10 12 2
Game called in fifth inning due to 8-run rule.
Jesse Dunham, Brady Bateman (5) and Kevin Gray; Carter and Johnson. W — Carter. L — Dunham.
HITS: BF — Bennett, Gering, N. Sabin, Gray. Home — D. Deal 3, Johnson 2, Carter 2, Taylor, J. Deal, Hatcher, Legjardi 2. 2B — Sabin, Legjardi.
2A
Nampa Christian 12
St. Maries 2
OROFINO — It was going to take a perfect game for the upstart Lumberjacks to beat the defending champion Trojans in a state 2A semifinal game at Orofino High.
It was anything but for St. Maries.
Bo Szymanski hit a three-run triple in the bottom of the third inning as the Trojans — taking advantage of six errors — beat the Lumberjacks to advance to the championship game, the fourth straight season the teams have met in the semifinals.
“We really struggled today in the field,” St. Maries coach Craig Tefft said. “To have six errors in five innings, against an average team you’re going to struggle, let alone against a good team like that. They didn’t need any help today, and we gave them all kinds of help.”
Chase Truscott hit an RBI single in the first inning for St. Maries (10-10), which faces Bear Lake (16-4) today at 12:45 p.m. in the third-place game.
Nampa Christian (24-3) will face tournament host Orofino (15-11) in the championship game. The Maniacs beat Bear Lake 5-4 in the other semifinal.
St. Maries 100 10 — 2 4 6
Nam. Christian 417 0x — 12 4 1
Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule.
Kiefer Gibson, Drake Lounsbury (3) and Chase Truscott; Harrison Neidermeyer and Jack Castlebeyer. W — Neidermeyer. L — Gibson.
HITS: SM — Truscott, Wilson, Edwards, Loman. NC — Szymanski, Tiersma, Houchins 2. 2B — Szymaski, Houchins.