LEGION BASEBALL: Lums' get it going at right time in Montana
BELGRADE, Mont. — The Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen learned a valuable lesson in getting started on Wednesday afternoon.
And it had nothing to do with baseball.
En route to the tournament, the Lums’ bus failed to start after making a stop during the 6 ½ hour trip.
“We were kind of stranded in Butte for a while,” Coeur d’Alene coach Darren Taylor said. “We were doing everything we could think of, but the bus just wouldn’t start. I didn’t think we were going to make it. Our guys were just sitting around thinking we weren’t going to play.”
Taylor, who drives separately in his personal truck, attempted to use jumper cables, with no success.
“After about 50 minutes, we were able to get it going,” Taylor said. “The bus apparently has a kill switch and after travelling a long distance, if you shut it off, it won’t start for a while. We got to the game just in time.”
As for the game, Spencer Zeller drew a walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, scoring Patrick Rimpau with the winning run as the Lumbermen rallied past the Pocatello Runnin’ Rebels 10-9 in the opening game of the Treasure State Showdown at Medina Field.
Liam Paddack singled and scored the tying run on Austin Taylor’s double in the sixth for Coeur d’Alene, which allowed five runs in the first inning.
“Our guys just kept at it,” Taylor said. “Ryan pitched really well after that first inning, LJ (Davey) and Cooper Erickson pitched well in relief. We’ve been averaging 11 runs a game, and I kept telling them we were going to get 10, it was just a matter of time.”
Marcus Manzardo, Rimpau and Zeller had two RBIs each for Coeur d’Alene, which resumes tournament play today against Jackson, Wyo., today at 1 p.m. PDT at Heroes Park in Bozeman.
COEUR d’ALENE 10, POCATELLO 9
Pocatello 500 211 — 9 6 2
Coeur d’Alene 121 312 — 10 11 4
Scott Baker, Colton Sneddon (5) and Aaron Kearns; Ryan Schneider, LJ Davey (5), Cooper Erickson (6) and Joe DuCoeur. W — Erickson. L — Sneddon.
HITS: Poc — Jones, Hansen, Evans 3, Wilhelm. Cd’A — Larson, Manzardo 2, DuCoeur 2, Paddack 2, Rimpau 2, Taylor, Zeller. 2B — Hansen, Jones, Manzardo, Taylor. 3B — Evans.
Northern Lakes 9-16
Silver Valley 5-1
OSBURN — Louis Powell hit a grand slam in the second inning of the nightcap for the Mountaineers, who swept the Miners in North Idaho League play at Morehouse Field.
Scott Pote, Andrew Horn and Trevor Vandever had two RBIs each in the first game for Northern Lakes, which scored five runs in the fourth to take the lead for good.
“I thought we looked sluggish and a little tired in the first game,” Northern Lakes coach Bryce Johnson said. “We did some uncharacteristic things, but found a way to regroup between games. We just hit the ball really well in the second game, put the ball in play and had runners in scoring position, which has been a struggle for us at times, and played a much cleaner game.”
Northern Lakes (10-5, 5-2 NIL) travels to St. Maries today at 4 p.m. for another doubleheader.
FIRST GAME
Northern Lakes 011 500 2 — 9 8 3
Silver Valley 032 000 0 — 5 10 2
Jacob Hessing, Scott Pote (3), Andrew Horn (6) and Caleb Knight; B. Hoffman, T. Eixenberger (5) and L. Frohlich. W — Pote. L — Hoffman.
HITS: NL — Powell, Pote, Clift, Horn 2, Vandever, Wysong 2. SV — Rainio 2, Frohllich, B. Hoffman, B. Hoffman 2, Whatcott 2, K. Luna, Eixenberger. 2B — Powell, Vandever, Clift, Wysong, Frohlich, K. Luna, B. Hoffman 2. 3B — B. Hoffman.
SECOND GAME
Northern Lakes 0(12)3 01 — 16 11 0
Silver Valley 100 00 — 1 1 4
Scott Pemberton, Jacob Schaffner (3), Addison Balavage (5) and Louis Powell; B. Hoffman, R. Luna (2), R. Whatcott (3) and L. Frohlich. W — Pemberton. L — B.Hoffman.
HITS: NL — Powell, Pote 2, Clift, Pemberton 2, Hessing, Schaffner, Kitchin 2, Wysong. SV — Whatcott. 2B — Hessing, Schaffner. HR — Powell.