Post Falls sweeps Vikings

COEUR d’ALENE — Wyatt Setian and Brock Zeller had the big hits in the first game, and Tanner McCliment-Call came up big in the second game as the Post Falls Trojans swept the Coeur d’Alene Vikings 7-1 and 8-6 in 5A Inland Empire League play Friday at Ted Page Field.

In the opener, with Post Falls up 2-1, Setian hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and two batters later, Zeller delivered a two-run double.

Jake Pfennigs struck out six in a three-hitter for the Trojans (8-7, 3-3 5A IEL).

“He was really efficient, came in under 100 pitches,” Post Falls coach Mick Zeller said. “He just faced them six days ago. He came out and studded up real well.”

In the second game, McCliment-Call hit an RBI double in the fourth and an RBI single in the fifth, and came up with a diving catch in right field in the sixth after Coeur d’Alene (11-5, 3-3) had pulled within 8-5.

“We were more upbeat,” Zeller said. “We threw our same two pitchers. They both threw better, kept the ball down, mixed up pitches ...

“It’s not how many hits you get, it’s when, and timely hits helped us out.”

Trevor Luckey led off the seventh with a homer for the Viks, who swept the Trojans at Post Falls last Saturday.

“Pfennigs threw the ball real well in Game 1,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nick Mahin said. “The biggest difference for us was we didn’t get to the next pitch. Our main focus is not worring about winning baseball games, but getting better. I think we were more worried about trying to win baseball games than getting better. In my opinion we didn’t get to the next pitch.”

Post Falls plays host to Sandpoint today at 11 a.m. in a doubleheader.

Coeur d’Alene is scheduled to play host to Lake City on Tuesday in a 5A IEL twinbill.

- Earlier this week, Coeur d’Alene self-reported an apparent violation of the new pitch-count rules being enforced for the first time this year in Idaho high school baseball, Coeur d’Alene athletic director Mike Lindquist said. A Viking pitcher who threw 70 pitches last Thursday against Cheney pitched again against Post Falls on Saturday. According to the new rules, anyone throwing between 61 and 85 pitches must have two days’ rest.

The District 1 Board of Control is expected to rule on the matter at its next meeting in early May, Lindquist said.

“We are all sorting out our new pitch count rule ... right now there is no set rule on what it means when the pitch counts are violated,” he said.

FIRST GAME

Post Falls 001 014 1 — 7 7 1

Coeur d’Alene 010 000 0 — 1 3 0

Jake Pfennigs and Nate Buer; Justin Bates, Brett Keesee (6), Jayce Bailey (7) and Kallen Langley. W — Pfennigs (3-1). L — Bates.

HITS: PF — Buer, Gosney 2, Setian, Bennett, Zeller, McKeown. Cd’A — Mayfield 2, No. 12 Luckey. 2B ­— Zeller, Luckey. 3B — Buer. HR — Setian (2).

SECOND GAME

Post Falls 000 413 0 — 8 16 4

Coeur d’Alene 003 011 1 — 6 8 0

Wes Brown, Isaiah Gosney (7) and Nate Buer; Brady Thompson, Thomas Robinson (5), Carter Friesz (7) and Kallen Langley. W — Brown 3-1). L — Thompson.

HITS: PF — Weeks, Buer 2, Setian 2, Pfennigs 3, Bennett 2, McCliment-Call 3, Rutherford. Cd’A — Mayfield, T. Luckey, Langley, Beggerly, Dooley, Friesz, Bunch. 2B — McCliment-Call, Friesz. HR — Luckey.

St. Maries 6

Orofino 1

ST. MARIES — Bryant Asbury struck out 12, scattered three hits and drove in a run as the host Lumberjacks beat the Maniacs in Central Idaho League play.

St. Maries (4-1, 1-0 CIL) and Orofino (3-8, 0-3) are scheduled to play a doubleheader today at Orofino.

Orofino 000 001 0 — 1 3 5

St. Maries 020 220 x — 6 7 0

Burke, Noah (5) and Curder; Bryant Asbury, Kaden Hammond (7) and Cade Truscott.

HITS: Oro — Morales, Burke, Olson. SM — Larson 2, Asbury, Gibson, Truscott, Lohman, Villa.