LEGION BASEBALL: Lums find their ‘guy’ — twice

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

COEUR d’ALENE — While trailing heading to the plate in the bottom of the sixth and seventh inning, members of the Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen kept asking, ‘just who’s going to be the guy?’

On Thursday, one was a guy that wasn’t with the team last year, the other a guy that’s been all business all summer long.

Spencer Zeller, who played the past three years as a member of the Prairie Cardinals American Legion team, delivered a walk-off hit as the Lums edged the Lewis-Clark Twins 10-9 in the first game of a best-of-5 Class AA Area A (district) tournament championship series at Thorco Field.

In the second game, more 'guys' stepped up as Zach Garza hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth to score Kyle Bridge and Zeller as the Lumbermen rallied to beat the Twins 6-4 to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

“Zach was just unbelievable in that last inning,” first-year Coeur d'Alene coach Darren Taylor said. “He came up and had a big pinch hit and then shut them down in the seventh.”

Cooper Larson had a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2 for Coeur d’Alene (25-8), which can clinch the series and berth to the state tournament in Game 3 at Harris Field at 5 p.m. on Saturday. If Lewis-Clark (5-25) wins the third game, Game 4 is at 7 on Saturday, with a possible fifth game scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. at Thorco Field.

“We’ve got some good mojo going right now,” Taylor said. “I feel pretty good about closing things out and see what this attitude can garner us.”

In the first game Zeller, who walked twice in the game, hit a fly ball to right field that was missed by the right fielder, allowing pinch runner LJ Davey to score from second.

Marcus Manzardo had a three-run double in the fifth inning for Coeur d’Alene, which scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh for the win.

“It was a huge win for us to get in the first game of the series,” Manzardo said. “It feels good, but we’ve got to take care of more business.”

Lewis-Clark opened the scoring on a two-run home run by Nate Guinard. Coeur d’Alene tied it on a two-run shot by Cooper Larson in the fourth.

“Our team fights until the last inning,” said Manzardo, whose older brother Kyle was drafted on Monday by the Tampa Bay Rays in the second round of the MLB first-year player draft. “I think we’re going to do very well in the rest of this tournament after getting through their ace (Carson Kolb).”

Zeller, who bats ninth, walked twice and Kyle Bridge, who bats eighth, had two hits and two runs scored. Liam Paddack struck out 12 in 4 1/3 innings for Coeur d’Alene before being taken out of the game after throwing 104 pitches.

“It’s amazing,” Manzardo said. “We were fortunate enough to get him (Zeller) this year with Prairie not having a Legion team. It’s great having him. He’s a competitor, and that’s what we like.”

“We gave up a lot of opportunities early with some baserunning mistakes and some mistakes in the field,” Taylor said of the first game. “But these guys just keep fighting. That’s what we’ve been talking about all year long. The bottom of our lineup won this game for us. Our 7-8-9 (Zach Garza, Bridge and Zeller) came through, and that’s when you know you’ve got a good team.”

With only Coeur d’Alene and Lewis-Clark in the league this year, the district tournament was changed from a traditional double-elimination tournament to best-of-5 series, with Coeur d’Alene hosting the first two games before the series shifts to Harris Field in Lewiston for games 3 and 4 on Saturday.

Guinard finished with three RBIs for Lewis-Clark.

“It was a real competitive game from both sides,” fourth-year Lewis-Clark coach Kevin Maurer said after the opener. “They just ended up with one extra run. They got ahead early, we battled back and got the lead, and they fought back. They just ended it on a walk-off.”

FIRST GAME

Lewis-Clark 000 233 1 — 9 10 1

Coeur d’Alene 000 502 3 — 10 11 2

2 outs when winning run scored.

Carson Kolb, Thomas Reynolds (4), Cole Mckenzie (6) and Nate Guinard; Liam Paddack, Cooper Erickson (5), Owen Benson (6) and Jackson Scherr. W — Benson. L — Mckenzie.

HITS: LC — Hepburn 3, Taylor, Reynolds 2, C. Kolb 2, Guinard, Mckenzie. Cd’A — Taylor, Manzardo 3, Scherr, Larson, Rimpau 2, Bridge 2, Zeller. 2B — Reynolds, Hepburn, C. Kolb, Rimpau, Manzardo 2, Zeller, Scherr. HR — Guinard, Larson.

SECOND GAME

Lewis-Clark 101 011 0 — 4 6 0

Coeur d’Alene 000 303 x — 6 9 1

Kayden Carpenter, Elliott Taylor (3), Jose Barajas (4) and Jake Feger; Ryan Schneider, Troy Shepard (6), Zach Garza (7) and Jackson Scherr, James Guyer (5). W — Shepard. L — Barajas. S — Garza.

HITS: L-C — Hepburn, Taylor, Reynolds, C. Kolb, Feger, Mckenzie. Cd’A — Taylor, Garza, Manzardo, Scherr, Schneider 2, Larson, Bridge, Zeller. 2B — C. Kolb, Taylor, Feger, Larson, Manzardo, Garza, Schneider 2.

WASHINGTON AA DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Cd’A Navy 9

West Valley 4

COEUR d’ALENE — Jayden Butler hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and finished with three RBIs as the Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen Navy squad beat West Valley in a first-round, loser-out game of the Washington class AA district tournament at Lake City High.

Coeur d’Alene Navy (27-11) will play at Gonzaga Prep today at 5:30 p.m. Coeur d’Alene Red opens tourney play today at 5:30 at Thorco Field vs. Thursday’s Deer Park-Shadle Park winner.

Karl Schwarzer hit a two-run double in the fourth inning for the Coeur d’Alene Navy, one of six extra-base hits by the Lums. Jake Dannenberg went 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Lums.

West Valley 020 020 0 — 4 8 2

Cd’A Navy 212 202 x — 9 13 1

West Valley battery unavailable; Nate Weatherhead, Karl Schwarzer (3), Aidan Blanco (6) and Cooper Smith.

HITS: WV — N/A. Cd’A — Smith, Shepard, Dannenberg 3, Reese 2, Blanco, Currie, Schwarzer, Butler 2, Murphy. 2B — Schwarzer, Reese, Dannenberg, Smith, Murphy. HR — Butler.