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Bulldogs grab state berth

by Mark Nelke Sports Writer
| May 13, 2018 1:00 AM

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Photo by Jason Duchow Photography Lakeland shortstop Samantha Byrne tags out Bri Barlow of Sandpoint at second base in the second game Saturday in Rathdrum.

RATHDRUM — Bri Baldree, version 2.0 and 3.0, was an improvement over version 1.0 earlier Saturday.

Her Sandpoint Bulldogs got a little better as the day went on, too.

Sandpoint bounced back from a 9-8 loss in the first game Saturday to beat the host Lakeland Hawks 9-4 in deciding game of the double-elimination tournament to win the 4A Region 1 championship and earn the region’s lone berth to the state tournament.

“I think it was us losing the first game that made us win the second game, because it kinda pissed us off,” said Baldree, who secured the win in the deciding game with three innings of relief, after starting pitcher Audrey Mattila gave Sandpoint four strong innings and left with the lead. “We knew we had to win it.”

Sandpoint (10-10), which won its third straight regional title, advances to state Friday and Saturday at Blackfoot High. The Bulldogs, third at state last year, open vs. District 3 runner-up Middleton on Friday at 8 a.m. PDT.

Lakeland finished 12-15.

“They had to show a lot of drive to come back and win that second game,” Sandpoint coach Elizabeth Hawkins-Williams said. “We, as a team, have struggled to mentally bounce back from losses, so this was a huge feat for the team today.”

Lakeland jumped on Baldree in the first game Saturday, taking a 5-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run homer by Taylor Woolley and a three-run shot by Alicia Edelblute.

But apparently no lead is safe between these two teams. In the top of the second, Brooklen Steiger hit a three-run homer for Sandpoint to tie it at 5, and Tanis Davis’ RBI double put the Bulldogs ahead 6-5.

Baldree, who gave Lakeland’s bats credit and also admitted to nerves at the start, was relieved after the first inning, and Lakeland’s Mia O’Hara hit a three-run homer in the second inning to put the Hawks ahead 8-6.

Baldree returned to the circle in the fourth, and struck out the first seven batters she faced, and fanned nine overall over three innings. She totaled 11 Ks in the opener.

And Sandpoint pulled even on Jaycie Irish’s infield RBI single in the fifth, followed by Baldree’s run-scoring single in the top of the sixth.

In the Lakeland sixth, Woolley reached on an infield single, and advanced to third on a pair of throwing errors on the play. Abbey Leon singled sharply to center field to score Woolley with the go-ahead run.

Sandpoint had runners on first and third with one out in the top of the seventh, but Woolley, who came on in relief in the second inning, struck the next two batters out looking to force a deciding game on the sunny, breezy day.

Sandpoint beat Lakeland 13-8 on Tuesday, so just needed one win Saturday to advance to state. Lakeland needed two.

In the second game, Sandpoint took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a wild pitch and a throwing error on the same play.

Leon’s RBI single pulled Lakeland within 2-1 in the bottom of the first.

Baldree doubled and scored on Davis’ sacrifice fly in the third. In the fourth, Mikayla Olson of Lakeland doubled and scored on a wild pitch to pull the Hawks within 3-2.

Matilla allowed four hits in four innings, kept Lakeland off balance and left with the lead.

Sandpoint broke it open in the fifth. Erin Loutzenhiser’s RBI single scored Baldree, and Natalie Petit — the No. 7 hitter — bashed a three-run homer to right field to make it 7-2.

The Bulldogs tacked on two more runs in the seventh on RBI infield singles by Steiger and Bri Barlow.

Lakeland left seven on base in the deciding game, and also hit in some tough luck, as Williams alternated pitchers with different speeds, starting the day with the harder-throwing Baldree, then going to Jaycie Irish, then back to Baldree to finish the first, then Mattila to start the second, and Baldree to finish.

“It was a tough battle all the way around,” Lakeland coach Colleen Bevacqua said. “Had a tough time getting our bats moving that second game. Baldree pitches extremely well, and Elizabeth does a great job utilizing her pitchers. We had a few errors that got them some runs ... and we had some good hits right at someone.”

“They hit well, so they’re going to time up on every pitcher,” Hawkins-Williams said. “So it’s a matter of keeping them off-balance.”

The left-handed Baldree, who has attracted some interest from colleges near and far, said she plans to take a “gap year” next year and travel, then likely resume her softball career in college.

Lakeland missed out on state for the third straight year, in part because the Hawks are in a small (three-team) league with just one berth to state. In the seven games between Sandpoint and Lakeland this year, the Bulldogs won four — scoring a grand total of nine more runs than the Hawks.

“I feel good that it (the state berth) is going to a team that we really battled with all season,” Bevacqua said. “I just wish we both got an opportunity (to play at state), because I really feel like in the 4As, we’re two of the better teams.”

LAKELAND 9, SANDPOINT 8

Sandpoint 060 011 0 — 8 11 4

Lakeland 520 001 x — 9 8 2

Bri Baldree, Jayce Irish (2), Baldree (4) and Ember Dewey; Alicia Edelblute, Taylor Woolley (2) and Abbey Leon. W — Woolley. L — Baldree.

HITS: Spt — Ward, Baldree 2, Davis 2, Mattila, Petit, Loutzenhiser 2, Dewey, Steiger. LL — Byrne, Woolley 3, Leon, O’Hara, Edelblute 2. 2B — Davis, Petit, Woolley. HR — Steiger, Woolley, O’Hara, Edelblute.

SANDPOINT 9, LAKELAND 4

Sandpoint 201 040 2 — 9 11 6

Lakeland 100 100 2 — 4 5 4

Audrey Mattila, Bri Baldree (5) and Ember Dewey; Alicia Edelblute, Taylor Woolley (1) and Abbey Leon. W — Mattila. L — Edelblute.

HITS: Spt — Barlow 2, Baldree 2, Davis, Mattila, Loutzenhiser, Petit, Steiger 2, Edwards. LL — Byrne, Woolley 2, O’Hara, Olson. 2B — Baldree, Davis, Woolley, O’Hara. HR — Petit.