THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Lums in good shape as postseason begins

It was an interesting dilemma for Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen "AA" coach Darren Taylor.

Since the Lums won the season series against the Lewis-Clark Twins, the Lums got to decide how their best-of-5 series for the Area A (district) title, which would determine North Idaho's lone berth to state, would be played.

Conventional wisdom would have dictated Coeur d'Alene play the first two games at home at Thorco Field. That would move the next two games to Lewiston, with the fifth and deciding game, if necessary, back in Coeur d'Alene.

Or, the Lums could have opted to play the first two games in Lewiston, guaranteeing the series would be decided at Thorco.

But that would have given the Twins, sporting a very un-Lewis-Clark-like 5-23 record, a chance to win two on their home field and put the heat on Coeur d'Alene (23-8), which went 3-0 vs. L-C this season.

Choosing to open on the road would have been a pretty unorthodox — and bold, and gutsy — move.

I'm sure Taylor considered it, but in the end the Lums went conventional, to "maybe get the first two (wins) at home and set the tone," he said.

SO COEUR d'Alene will play host to Lewis-Clark tonight in a 5 p.m. doubleheader at Thorco Field to open the Area A tourney.

Then the tourney shifts to Harris Field in Lewiston on Saturday, with Game 3 at 5 p.m. and Game 4, if necessary, to follow.

If a Game 5 is needed, it would be Sunday at 5 p.m. at Thorco.

The winner advances to state next week in Twin Falls.

All games at the area and state tournaments are seven innings. In years past, postseason games at the "AA" level were nine innings. But the games were shortened when pitch-count limits went into effect.

Last summer, the state "AA" tourney turned into an all-Eastern Idaho invitational because of COVID-19. The Area B (Boise area) schools bowed out of state consideration early in the summer. In Area A, Coeur d'Alene and the Prairie Cardinals both played as many games as they could pick up, and both had the option to play at state, but at the end of the season, both decided not to.

This summer, Prairie (Post Falls) did not field a program due to lack of numbers, leaving Coeur d'Alene and Lewis-Clark as the only two "AA" teams in the North Idaho League.

That's a far cry from the heyday of when Trail and Cranbrook were in the North Idaho League, and, years earlier, when Sandpoint and Moscow fielded "AA" teams.

Anyway ...

THE LUMS have developed a deep pitching staff led by three lefthanders — Liam Paddack, Ryan Schneider and Troy Shepard — and two righty starters, Owen Benson and Cooper Erickson, with Jackson Scherr as the closer.

"We've got it going just when we needed it to," said Taylor, the Lums' first-year head coach and a former Coeur d'Alene Legion player. "We've got all our pitchers healthy, we've got all our hitters back, we're getting clutch hits, our defense is playing great. All the facets are in perfect position."

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.