STATE AA LEGION: Lums drop into losers bracket
TWIN FALLS — A rocky start Friday has left the Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen no margin for error at the state AA American Legion baseball tournament.
The Idaho Falls Bandits scored four runs in the top of the first inning and went on to beat the Lums 9-1 in a second-round game at the College of Southern Idaho’s Skip Walker Field.
“All is not lost,” Coeur d’Alene coach Darren Taylor said after his team saw its 10-game winning streak snapped, and dropped into the losers bracket of the eight-team tournament. “The way they set this up, you only play once a day until the last day, so we won’t be taxed mentally or physically.”
Coeur d’Alene (27-9) will play the Nampa Chiefs (8-22-1) today at noon PDT in a loser-out game. Nampa rebounded from a 17-0 loss to the Pocatello Runnin’ Rebels on Thursday with an 8-1 victory over Upper Valley of Rexburg in an elimination game Friday.
Idaho Falls (33-9-1), which won the American Legion World Series in 2019, parlayed two hit batsmen, a walk, an error and a base hit into a 4-0 lead in the first.
McGwire Jephson and Ayson Webb hit solo homers in the third inning for Idaho Falls for a 6-1 lead.
That proved to be more than enough support for CSI-bound right-hander Merit Jones, who struck out seven, walked three and allowed six hits and one earned run in six innings.
“The only bright spot is they wasted their ace,” Taylor said, noting that Jones’ pitch count (98) on Friday will prevent him from pitching again in the tournament, which is scheduled to end Monday. “He was pretty solid. We got six hits (off Jones) and we had people in scoring position, but we didn’t come through. That’s what good pitchers do; they get outs when they need to.”
Joe DuCoeur led off the second with a single and scored on a two-out single by Spencer Zeller for Coeur d’Alene. Zeller and Marcus Manzardo finished with two hits each for the Lums, who left nine on base, including the bases loaded in the first and two more in the second.
Four of Idaho Falls’ eight hits went for extra bases, with Jephson adding a two-run double in the fourth.
“They’re a good team, but I don’t see much difference, them to us,” Taylor said. “Hopefully we can get them in the end, when it’ll be more of a hitters’ game.
“I think we’ll be fine.”
Idaho Falls Bandits 402 300 0 — 9 8 1
Cd’A Lumbermen 010 000 0 — 1 7 2
Merit Jones, Dayton Robinson (7) and RJ Woods; Liam Paddack, Zach Garza (2), Cooper Erickson (4), Lucas Erickson (6) and Joe DuCoeur.
HITS: IF — Howell, Rose 2, Jephson 2, Webb 2, Robinson. Cd’A — Zeller 2, Manzardo 2, DuCoeur, Bridge, Rimpau. 2B — Jephson. 3B — Howell. HR — Jophson, Webb.
STATE AA AMERICAN LEGION
BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
At Skip Walker Field, Twin Falls
Thursday’s Games
Idaho Falls Bandits 11, Blackfoot Broncos 1
Pocatello Runnin’ Rebels 17, Nampa Chiefs 0
Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen 10, Twin Falls Blackhawks 0
Twin Falls Cowboys 12, Upper Valley Bulldogs 5
Friday’s Games
Twin Falls Blackhawks 2, Blackfoot Broncos 1 (loser out)
Nampa Chiefs 8, Upper Valley Bulldogs 1 (loser out)
Idaho Falls Bandits 9, Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen 1
Twin Falls Cowboys 9, Pocatello Runnin’ Rebels 4
Saturday’s Games
Game 9 — Nampa Chiefs (8-22-1) vs. Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen (27-9), noon (loser out)
Game 10 — Twin Falls Blackhawks vs. Pocatello Runnin’ Rebels (24-14), 3 p.m. (loser out)
Game 11 — Idaho Falls Bandits (33-9-1) vs. Twin Falls Cowboys (25-11), 6 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
Game 12 — Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11, 3 p.m.
Game 13 — Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11, 6 p.m.
Monday’s Games
Game 14 — Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13, 3 p.m.
Game 15 — Winner Game 14 vs. Winner Game 15, 6 p.m. (if necessary)