Late burst in first game powers Vikings to sweep

COEUR d’ALENE — Quinton Bunch had two hits and four RBIs for Coeur d’Alene, which rallied with a 10-run bottom of the sixth inning to beat Post Falls 16-9 in the first game of a 5A Inland Empire League doubleheader at Ted Page Field on Saturday.

Coeur d’Alene took advantage of 11 walks, nine coming in the sixth inning. Jake Rutherford struck out six in 5 1/3 innings for Post Falls before hitting his pitch count limit.

“(Post Falls starting pitcher) Jake Rutherford came out and pitched really well,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nick Mahin said. “Alex (Karns) did a great job of keeping us in it, and we were finally able to break through with a big inning in the fifth. We were finally able to get Jake out of the game and went to work on their bullpen. It was a good couple of games by both teams.”

Kaden Cripps had three hits and two RBIs for Post Falls in the opener.

In the nightcap, Carter Friesz and Devon Johnson had two RBIs each as the Vikings completed the sweep. Jake Brown, Noah Mayfield and Bunch all scored twice for Coeur d’Alene (13-1. 6-0 5A IEL), which hosts Lake City in a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 2 p.m.

Post Falls (4-8, 1-5) hosts Lewiston for a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 3 p.m.

FIRST GAME

Post Falls 301 003 2 — 9 12 3

Coeur d’Alene 002 04(10) x  — 16 7 1

Jake Rutherford, Austin Higgins (6), Zach Pollard (6), Eli Gondo (6) and Derek Pearse; Alex Karns, Devon Johnson (6) and Trent Elstad. W — Johnson. L — Rutherford.

HITS: PF — C. Rutherford, Cripps 3, Lebsock 2, Keating 2, Pearse, Misita, Gondo 2. Cd’A — Brown, Chatfield, Mayfield, Bunch 2, Friesz, Thompson. 2B — Cripps, Lebsock, Brown, Bunch, Mayfield. 3B — Misita.

SECOND GAME

Post Falls 001 001 0 — 2 6 1

Coeur d’Alene 103 005 x — 9 7 2

Jacob Schow, Paul Keating (3), Kevin Lebsock (6), Eli Gondo (6) and Derek Pearse, Jacob Burton (2); Zach Mackimmie, David Kraak (6) and Carter Friesz. W — Mackimmie. L — Schow.

HITS: PF — Zeller, Lebsock, Burton, Misita, Higgins 2. Cd’A — Brown, Chatfield, Mayfield, Bunch, Friesz, Thompson, Cleave. 2B — Burton, Lebsock, Thompson.

Lewiston 5-3

Lake City 4-2

COEUR d’ALENE — Lake City led in both games, but the visiting Bengals rallied late in both to sweep the Timberwolves in 5A IEL play.

In the first game, Breyson Coppess hit RBI doubles in the second and fourth innings to stake Lake City (5-7, 2-4 5A IEL) to a 2-0 lead.

Tyson Wallace of Lewiston (3-3 5A IEL) answered with an RBI single in the fifth, and his two-run single in the sixth capped a four-run uprising that boosted the Bengals’ lead to 5-2.

Peyton Childers, who went 3 for 4 for Lake City, hit an RBI single in the sixth and and another one in the seventh to pull the T-Wolves within 5-4 with one out. But Wallace, who had come on in relief for Lewiston, struck out the next two batters to end the game.

Bridger Rinaldi struck out six in five innings in the opener for Lake City.

In the second game, Dylan Brum doubled in a run in the third inning for Lake City, and Harrison Reid’s RBI triple in the fourth made it 2-0.

Brock Sween pitched five shutout innings for Lake City, before Lewiston broke through in the sixth.

“We had numerous opportunities to win both games and made some mental mistakes,” Lake City coach Paul Manzardo said. “Bridger (Rinaldi) pitched really well in the first game and Brock (Sween) did in the second game. We just had some mistakes running the bases that cost us in the long run. We’ll learn from it, grow and get better.”

Trayton Skinner hit a two-run single in the sixth for Lewiston to tie the game at 2, and scored the go-ahead run on a single by Kyle Van Boeyen.

Lake City turned a triple play in the top of the fifth inning of the second game. With runners at first and second, a Lewiston batter hit a line drive to Dylan Brum, who was playing in at third. The ball bounced out of Brum’s glove, but he picked it up, stepped on third for the first out, then threw across to first baseman Payton Childers to retire the batter. Meanwhile, the Bengal runner at first had frozen on the line drive, allowing Childers to tag him out for the third out in the inning.

“It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Manzardo said. “I would have liked a win, though.”

Lake City travels to Coeur d’Alene for a league doubleheader on Tuesday.

FIRST GAME

Lewiston 000 014 0 — 5 7 2

Lake City 010 101 1 — 4 9 1

Kyle Van Boeyen, Tyson Wallace (6) and Connor Stamper; Bridger Rinaldi, Ryan Rios (6), Alex Feek (6) and Conner Conigliaro.

HITS: Lew — Wallace 3, Skinner, Van Boeyen, Bonfield 2. LC — Brum, Scherr, Rinaldi, Schuelke, Childers 3, Coppess 2. 2B — Coppess 2.

SECOND GAME

Lewiston 000 003 0 — 3 6 2

Lake City 001 100 0 — 2 7 1

Connor Stamper, Dylan Mader (7) and Austin Kolb; Brock Sween, Cooper Grohs (7) and Conner Conigliaro.

HITS: Lew — Wallace, Skinner, Stamper, Van Boeyen, Kolb, Stottlemyre. LC — Brum, Rinaldi, Conigliaro, Reid 2, Sween, Smith. 2B — Brum, Smith. 3B — Reid.