Timberwolves bring it
Lake City teammates greet Ashlynn Allen at home plate after she hit a home run against Lewiston in the 5A Region 1 tournament championship game Tuesday at Lake City. LOREN BENOIT/Press
Lake City High School center fielder Emma Grey fields a Lewiston flyball in the 5A Region 1 tournament championship game. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — Lake City coach Jesse Lenz has been waiting a while for a day like Tuesday.
Pitching, hitting and fielding; it came together.
Lake City, on the heels of a nine-run bottom of the fourth inning, beat Lewiston 12-1 in the 5A Region 1 championship game at Lake City High.
“That fourth inning — in both games really — was huge for us,” Lenz said. “We seemed to put a little bit of distance between us and the other teams. The girls really stepped up, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way they did the little things. We’ve been preaching all year the little things and it came together today. Situational hitting, taking the extra base and moving the runner in. Making quality outs. We’ve left way too many runners on base throughout the year at the plate, and the girls hit the ball well today.”
Top-seeded Lake City (20-4) advances to the state 5A tournament — its 10th straight appearance — starting next Friday at Highland High in Pocatello. The Timberwolves will face the fourth-place team from District 3 (Boise area) at 8 a.m. PST.
Lake City finished runner-up in last year’s tournament in Coeur d’Alene.
“We really wanted to get back to state after last year,” Lake City senior Reilly Williams said. “That loss kind of stung. We just want to keep bringing it until we get a title.”
No. 2 seed Lewiston (16-8) will host No. 4 seed Post Falls in the regional second-place game on Thursday. The Trojans (11-12) eliminated third-seeded Coeur d’Alene 9-7 in a loser-out game at Ramsey Park. The Vikings finish 7-18.
Lake City 12, Lewiston 1, 5 inn.: Emma Gray hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 1-1. Ashley Kaufman followed later in the inning with a two-run single to give the Timberwolves a 3-1 lead after the second.
Then the floodgates opened, with Lake City scoring nine runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the game away.
Reilley Chapman hit a two-run single, Ashlynn Allen a three-run home run and Reilly Williams a solo home run in the fourth for Lake City.
“I told the girls we’ve got two checkmarks so far,” Lenz said. “We’ve got the league title and district title were our first two goals. And the south’s looking tough. Lewiston’s a good team, and I expect to see them down there next week as well. Cheyenne (Rose) threw her tail off, but we were able to captalize on some things. I really expect them to be there. It’s a long ride for us again this year, and we’ve got to be ready from the get-go. It’s going to be a good battle.”
Williams’ home run capped the scoring for Lake City in the fourth.
“I was looking for a pitch that I could drive below my hands,” said Williams, who has signed to play at Montana next year. “It was a little low and inside, so I just went with it.”
Kaufman, who missed the past two weeks with an ankle injury, returned to strike out four and allow three hits against Lewiston.
“It’s great to have A.K. back again,” Lenz said. “She threw the ball really well. We’ve got some things to work on, and we talked about it after the game. But I was really impressed with how she threw the ball today.”
“It has been an interesting season with people getting hurt and missing time,” said senior Haley Loffer, who had an RBI single and run scored in the fourth. “We’ve had a lot of different players step up. We’ve had to adjust to everything, but have been able to adjust and get the job done.”
Mckenzie Wilson finished the game in the circle, getting a groundout to end the game.
“Our team is really unselfish and everyone stepped up throughout the season,” Lenz said “We had some injuries, players gone and everyone has stepped up. Everyone on the team has a role, and they stepped up when they needed to. From 1 to 16, everyone is filling their role well right now.”
Lewiston 010 00 — 1 3 0
Lake City 030 9x — 12 10 1
Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule.
Cheyenne Rose, Sarah O’Connor (5) and Madilyn Sorenson; Ashley Kaufman, Mckenzie Wilson (5) and Jalyssa Beamer. W — Kaufman. L — Rose.
HITS: Lew — Bausch, House 2. LC — E. Gray, Allen 2, Kaufman 2, Chapman 2, Williams 2, Loffer. 2B — Williams. HR — Allen, Williams.
Post Falls 9, Coeur d’Alene 7: Bubba Gleaves drove in three runs, Kahlea Dumas and Kaycie Barber scored three runs each and the Trojans held off the Vikings in a loser-out game at Ramsey Park.
Barber finished with four hits for Post Falls, which travels to Lewiston in the regional second-place game on Thursday.
Hailey Lyons hit a solo home run and Betty Comack scored two runs for Coeur d’Alene.
Post Falls 210 302 1 — 9 15 4
Coeur d’Alene 301 010 2 — 7 10 4
Amanda Rouse and Ally Morris; Betty Comack and Mary Comack. W — Rouse. L — B. Comack.
HITS: PF — Dumas 2, Barber 4, Gleaves, Hans, Horn, Melton 2, Demute, Seymour, Morris. Cd’A — M. Fernimen 2, Lyons, B. Comack, A. Fernimen 2, Sell, West, Chavez. 2B — Demute. HR — Lyons.
Lake City 10, Post Falls 0: Abby Gray drove in three runs, Haley Loffer and Ashley Kaufman two runs each for the Timberwolves in a win over the Trojans in an opening round game.
Emma Gray hit a two-run home run in an eight-run bottom of the fourth for Lake City.
Post Falls 000 00 — 0 4 1
Lake City 101 8x — 10 6 1
Amanda Rouse, Dinah Seymour (4) and Ally Morris; Ashley Kaufman and Jalyssa Beamer. W — Kaufman. L — Rouse.
HITS: PF — Barber, Hans, Horn, Demute. LC — Loffer 2, Chapman, A. Gray, E. Gray, Williams. 2B — A. Gray. HR — E. Gray.
Lewiston 1, Coeur d’Alene 0: No other details were available from the first-round game at Ramsey Park.