THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, May 21, 2016
It took a little bit of time, but the St. Maries Lumberjack baseball team got back on the winning track and into a semifinal game in the state 2A tournament.
All it took, was a little bit of familiarity with their surroundings it appears.
THE LUMBERJACKS entered Friday’s semifinal game with Nampa Christian with wins in three of their last four games. The lone loss was a 10-inning setback to Orofino High in the 2A District 1-2 championship game.
Last week, St. Maries beat Grangeville, then outlasted New Plymouth in a state play-in game last Saturday.
St. Maries has played its entire postseason at Orofino, including this week’s state tournament.
Playing on the familiar field might be an advantage of sorts according to St. Maries coach Craig Tefft, but he’d like to think it’s a little more than that.
“I don’t know that it helps that we’re closer to home,” Tefft said. “What is nice about it is that they’ve worked hard on the field to get it into great shape and everything plays true defensively. You rarely see bad hops — you still get them occasionally — but you don’t really see them down here. It gives our defense a chance to make plays.”
And now, weather permitting today, a chance to bring back a trophy from state.
WHILE THEY might not be considered locals, a few of incoming wrestlers at North Idaho College are familiar with the spotlight at Christianson Gym in Coeur d’Alene after winning titles at the Tri-State Invitational in December.
Bryson Beard, a 126-pound wrestler from Central Valley High in Spokane and Trystan Perales of Lake Stevens (Wash.) advanced to the finals of the tournament this year. Beard won his final by injury default, while Perales lost to Alius De La Rosa of Post Falls in the 145-pound championship.
Others already signed include: Shandon Ilaban (133 pounds), a two-time high school All-American from Oahu, Hawaii; Zack Bowman (141) from Hawaii; Brent Evans (157), who will transfer from Morehead State; Liam Corbin (157), a two-time state champion from Oahu; Darien Perkins (165), a state champion from Warren, Mich.; Jeremy Merryweather (174) of Grandville, Mich., Hudson Mauseth of Moses Lake (174), Trager Abbati (184) of Challis, a three-time state champion; Guy Petron (197) from Louisiana and Dallas Goodpaster of Evergreen High in Vancouver, Wash.
Mauseth beat Vince Rey of Coeur d’Alene in the fifth place match at 170 at Tri-State.
“With the returners and guys we’ve got coming back, we hope to be right back in the mix next year,” NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. “It’s been great going out and recruiting them. Right now, we’re at 55 kids committed to come here and are signed. We’re going to have a lot of freshmen, but they’re tough kids.”
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.