Lums aim to grow on the field under new coach

They’re going to be young, but athletic.

Just where the Coeur d’Alene AA Lumbermen will finish, well, that is up to a new cast of characters to the squad.

The Lums return one senior ­— Brett Stapleton — three sophomores and eight juniors.

“We’re young, and we’re athletic,” first-year Coeur d’Alene coach Kevin Dunton said. “There’s a lot of guys that have something to prove from the high school season.”

Justin Bates, Stapleton, Brady Thompson and Tanner Mueller, who played at Kellogg High in the spring, will make up the pitching rotation.

“I’m anxious to see how Tanner does on the mound,” Dunton said. “Those guys should really help us a lot this year.”

Bennett Cunningham, who played on the Lums last season, will likely play in center field, with Matt Gjevre and Brett Keesee in the corner outfield positions.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that will be athletic,” Dunton said. “I think it’s going to be good to have a lot of guys that can play different positions.”

Dunton takes over for Zach Clanton, who stepped down after four seasons as head coach when he was promoted to head coach at Wenatchee Valley College.

Coeur d’Alene finished fourth in the state AA tournament in 2016.

Dunton coached most of his current roster for the Single-A legion program in previous years.

“I think they know what I expect as a coach and I know what kind of kids they are,” Dunton said. “Being familiar with each other will help. For most of them, it’s just going to be a transition they’re going to have to get used to. Some of them haven’t quite played at the varsity level. They’re going to be jumping into it right away and we’ll see how they adjust to it.”

Dunton said Zach Sensel (second base), Jack Bloom (first base/third base), Riley Alley (first base/third base) and Cody Davenport (infielder/pitcher) will see time in the infield.

“We’re just looking forward to seeing what they can do,” Dunton said.

With Northern Lakes unable to field a AA program due to low numbers, the North Idaho League is down to three teams, leaving Coeur d’Alene, Prairie and Lewis-Clark to battle for two spots to the state tournament July 26-30 in Twin Falls.

“The three of us will get the chance to beat up on each other a little bit and play in some tournaments as well,” said Dunton, whose team opened the season Wednesday night, and travels to a Memorial Day weekend tournament in Missoula starting Saturday. “We’ll get five games against five really good teams. It will be good to see what we’ve got and where we’re at as a team.”

They’ll also have the usual weekend tournaments leading into the Class AA Area A tournament July 20-22 at Post Falls High.

“We’ll go to Boise for a five-day tournament and get to see a lot of good teams down there,” Dunton said. “It’s going to be a fun tournament. With how small our league is, we’ve got to look elsewhere to fill our schedule. There’s going to be a lot of games we’ll travel to.”

Dunton will be assisted this year by Mike Borowski and Kyle Johnson, who played college baseball at Washington State after graduating from Lake City High. Johnson, who spent five years in minor league baseball in the Los Angeles Angels and New York Mets organizations, retired from the sport in March.

“Kyle’s a great addition to the staff,” Dunton said. “He brings a lot of knowledge and experience to the field, and will also help the 14-and-under team. We’re thrilled to get him and Mike in the program. Mike just has a lot of knowledge and experience as well. It’s going to be a good summer of learning baseball. The kids come from good high school programs that have done a good job on teaching how to play the game.”