Sween hurls Lake City past Cd'A, into play-in game
COEUR d’ALENE — Pitching on two days’ rest, Brock Sween tossed a three-hitter and struck out five as the visiting Lake City Timberwolves advanced to the state play-in game with a 5-1 victory over the top-seeded Coeur d’Alene Vikings in the second-place, loser-out game of the 5A Region 1 tournament Thursday at Ted Page Field.
Sween, a senior, threw 65 pitches and was the tough-luck loser on Monday in a 2-1 loss at Lewiston in the first round.
“I’m proud for Brock,” Lake City coach Paul Manzardo said. “He showed a lot of composure, a lot of confidence. He just pitched an unbelievable game. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and the two outings he threw this week rank up there with two of the best I’ve seen as a coach. Just a gutty performance.”
Lake City (9-12) will play Capital (12-16) of Boise in a state play-in game Saturday at 1 p.m. at Church Field in Lewiston.
Coeur d’Alene (21-3) went 12-0 in the 5A Inland Empire League, and struck together 17 straight victories before losing to Lewiston in the regional championship game — then two days later to their city rivals.
Last year, Lake City won the league, then lost two straight — eliminated by a loss to Coeur d’Alene — and missed out on a trip to state.
“Baseball is a crazy game,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nick Mahin said. “We hit the ball hard all game — just right at people. Their pitcher threw a heckuva game, and we couldn’t string hits together.
“I told my guys, don’t let anybody take anything away from you. Going 12-0 in league is quite an accomplishment.”
Harrison Reid’s sacrifice fly in the third inning for Lake City opened the scoring. Bridger Rinaldi hit an RBI single in the fifth, and scored on Riley Smith’s double to make it 3-0.
Jake Brown had both hits for Coeur d’Alene, including a single in the fifth to pull the Vikings within 3-1.
Marcus Manzardo’s RBI single in the sixth hiked Lake City’s lead to 4-1, and Payton Childers’ RBI groundout made it 5-1.
“My young guys rose to the occasion and beat a good team,” Paul Manzardo said. “Coeur d’Alene had a great year, and we were able to get one today. It’s crazy; anything can happen in the IEL.”
Lake City 001 022 0 — 5 10 0
Coeur d’Alene 000 010 0 — 1 3 1
Brock Sween and Jackson Scherr; Alex Karns, Landen Thompson (5), Colt Rowley (6) and Carter Friesz. W — Sween. L — Karns.
HITS: LC — Manzardo 2, Childers 2, Rinaldi 2, Reid, Smith 2, Schuelke. Cd’A — Brown 2. 2B — Childers, Reid, Schuelke, Smith, Friesz, Brown.
Timberlake 10
Bonners Ferry 0
SPIRIT LAKE — Timberlake pitcher Jack McDonald was efficient and effective in the 3A District 1 championship game at Timberlake High.
McDonald struck out eight, walked two and allowed only a one-out single to Ty Bateman in the first inning as the Tigers beat the defending state 3A champion Badgers for their first district title since 2017.
“Jack has been our go-to guy all season,” said Timberlake coach Cameron Knigge, who took over the program in 2017. “He showed why he’s co-MVP of the league (along with Bonners Ferry’s Seth Bateman). He held Bonners to one hit, struck out eight and only threw 68 pitches.”
Timberlake (16-8-1) will open at the state 3A tournament at Melaleuca Field in Idaho Falls against Marsh Valley, the District 5 champion, next Thursday at 9 a.m. PDT.
Bonners Ferry (9-9) plays host to Priest River (5-13) in the district’s second-place game today at 4 p.m. That winner advances to state. Priest River eliminated Kellogg (1-15) on Thursday.
Bonners Ferry 000 00 — 0 1 2
Timberlake 042 13 — 10 9 0
Game called inf 5th inning due to 10-run rule.
Gabe See and unknown; Jack McDonald and Louis Powell. W — McDonald. L — See.
HITS: BF — T. Bateman. TL — Harris 3, Knerr, Drake, Larsen, Hessing 2, Benefield. No extra-base hits.