Legion Baseball: Northern Lakes 4, Cd’A Lumbermen 3

RATHDRUM — Trevor Vandever’s bases-loaded walk forced in the winning run, leading the Northern Lakes Mountaineers to a 4-3 win over the visiting Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen on Monday evening at Gorton Field in Rathdrum.

“That was a great baseball game all around,” Northern Lakes coach Bryce Johnson said. “Coeur d’Alene’s a very strong AA program, and that’s two games in a row we had a hard-fought, one-run game against them.”

Despite recording only three hits, the host Mountaineers (18-5) scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to erase an early Coeur d’Alene lead. Northern Lakes hitters drew seven walks, three by Vandever, and scored in the seventh on a dropped third strike, fielder’s choice and three free passes.

A complete-game effort by Mountaineer pitcher Jaret Taylor kept his team in the game. Taylor allowed only one earned run and three hits over seven innings, walking five with two strikeouts.

“We had a couple of errors early on and gave up two in the first inning,” Johnson said. “But after that, Jaret kept battling and throwing strikes ... Jaret competed his butt off tonight.”

The Lums (10-11-1) took an early lead with two unearned runs in the first inning. After a fielding error, Landen Thompson knocked home a run on a fielder’s choice, then was caught in a “pickle” as he broke for second base during a pickoff attempt. Thompson avoided Mountaineer infielders long enough for Alex Karns to race home from third, putting the visitors ahead 2-0.

Northern Lakes got its first hit in the bottom of the third, and made it count, as Taylor’s two-out walk was followed by Colton Aragon’s RBI double to cut the lead to 2-1.

“Colton hit the ball well all day, and that two-out double got us going,” Johnson said.

The hosts tied the game without a hit in the fifth, as Jack McDonald was hit by a pitch, took second on a passed ball, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a passed ball.

The unearned run finished the night of Lums starter Karns, who allowed just two hits and one earned run over five innings, with seven strikeouts.

“That kid can throw,” Johnson said of Karns. “He pitched very, very well, giving us just those two hits, and we were fortunate to score the two runs off him.”

Both teams scored a run in the sixth, with Cd’A regaining the lead on Thompson’s sacrifice fly. The Mountaineers tied it again as Sam Pemberton singled, moved to second on a walk, advanced on a fielder’s choice and scored on an error.

Jackson Scherr had two of the three hits for Coeur d’Alene, which hosts Mount Spokane on Friday at Thorco Field.

Aragon and Vandever each had a hit and an RBI for Northern Lakes, which hosts the Spokane Expos in a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday at Lakeland High School.

• Northern Lakes, a single-A team, also faced the Coeur d’Alene A team in a Monday afternoon game, winning 7-2. Tristan Clift earned the win for the Mountaineers, allowing only three hits and one earned run in 6.2 innings. He struck out seven. Aragon had a two-run triple to lead the Mountaineer offense.

Coeur d’Alene 200 001 0 — 3 3 2

Northern Lakes 001 011 1 — 4 3 2

Two outs when winning run scored

Alex Karns, Landon Vergeer (6), Liam Paddack (7) and Jackson Schnerr; Jaret Taylor and Colton Aragon. W — Taylor. L — Paddack.

HITS: Cd’A — Scherr 2, Thompson; NL — Aragon, Pemberton, Vandever. 2B — Aragon.