THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Back when there were sports

One year ago, wondering why our car was running so rough might have been our biggest worry.

These days ...

It’s wondering when will be the next time we need to take the car out of the garage.

Also a year ago, local high school teams (and North Idaho College’s softball team) were in the meat of their seasons.

Since there is no “meat” to this year’s spring sports season in North Idaho, here’s a look back ...

ONE YEAR AGO ON THIS DATE

Devon Johnson had three hits and three RBIs in the opener, and Coeur d’Alene went on to sweep visiting Lake City 10-9 and 7-1 in 5A Inland Empire League baseball.

Kaden Cripps hit a bases-clearing single in a six-run second inning, and Post Falls held on to beat visiting Lewiston 7-6 in the second game for a split of their 5A IEL baseball doubleheader.

Cameron Harris struck out eight in a complete-game win in the opener, and Lakeland went on to sweep Sandpoint 5-1 and 7-2 in 4A Inland Empire League baseball at Gorton Field in Rathdrum.

Kobe Harris struck out nine and scattered two hits in the opener, and Jack McDonald fanned 12 and pitched a four-hitter in the nightcap as visiting Timberlake swept Bonners Ferry 16-2 and 9-1 in Intermountain League baseball.

In softball, Taylor Woolley hit two home runs in the first game, and was the winning pitcher in both games as visiting Lakeland swept Sandpoint 20-13 and 16-1 at Travers Park to break a tie between teams who began the day tied for first in the 4A Inland Empire League. Destry Brack had seven hits on the day for Lakeland.

Lake City swept host Coeur d’Alene 11-0 and 15-5 to clinch the top seed to the 5A Region 1 tournament. Ashlynn Allen hit a two-run homer and Ashley Kaufman struck out nine in five innings in the opener. Olivia Zufelt hit a two-run homer and Jalyssa Beamer hit a two-run single in the nightcap for the Timberwolves.

Becca Malloy struck out 10 in a five-inning one-hitter and Bernie Carhart had nine strikeouts in the nightcap for host Timberlake in a 12-0, 15-1 sweep of Bonners Ferry in IML play.

Madison Cordell and Gracie Barden drove in three runs each in the opener, and St. Maries swept Kamiah 21-1, 13-8 in Central Idaho League play in Moscow.

Taylor Bush and Kat Rauenhorst were medalists as Kellogg swept an Intermountain League tournament at StoneRidge.

Lake City and Coeur d’Alene tied 6-6 in tennis.

FIVE YEARS AGO ON THIS DATE

Emily Vanderhoof, Katie Kastning and Kari Prockish drove in three runs each for the Lakeland Hawks in a 25-20 win over the Moscow Bears in the second game of a 4A Inland Empire League doubleheader at Ghormley Park. Lakeland won the opener 11-7.

Timberlake rallied from a 4-0 deficit with five runs in the top of the sixth inning to win 5-4 over Sandpoint in the nightcap of a nonleague softball sweep at Sandpoint Middle School. The Tigers won the opener 7-4.

10 YEARS AGO ON THIS DATE

Casey Stangel singled to score Jamie Hall in the seventh inning of the first game, and Lake City went on to sweep Lewiston 5-4 and 3-0 in 5A Inland Empire League softball. Stangel had eight strikeouts in the first game for Lake City.

Morgan Cummings was 6 for 7 with five RBIs for St. Maries in an 11-1, 9-4 sweep of visiting Orofino.

Alyssa Hawley went 6 for 7 with five runs and four RBIs as North Idaho College swept visiting Colorado Northwestern in Scenic West Athletic Conference softball 8-0 and 13-5 at Memorial Field.

The Silver defeated the Gold 27-14 in the University of Idaho’s spring football game before an estimated 3,300 fans at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. Gold quarterback Nathan Enderle completed 12 of 20 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown. Brian Reader, playing mostly for the Silver, was 23 of 31 for 259 yards and two TDs.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.