PREP BASEBALL: Errors cost Vikings in IEL opener with Lewiston
LEWISTON — The freebies cost Coeur d’Alene in 10-6 and 7-3 losses to Lewiston to open Inland Empire League play on Saturday at Church Field.
In the first game, Lewiston (4-0) led 2-1 before scoring eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bengals did it with five bases on balls, one hit batter, two hits and two Viking errors.
“We just had one bad inning,” Coeur d’Alene coach Erik Karns said. “And you can’t give a good team like that free bases. We had a great start in the second game and let them back into the game.”
Ryan Schneider struck out six in three hitless innings for Coeur d’Alene in the opener. Killian Fox fanned seven in four innings for Lewiston.
“Ryan had a great start and threw the ball really well,” Karns said. “We’ll progress and with more time on the field, we’ll get better defensively. We threw the ball well on the mound, but just didn’t make the plays behind them.”
In the second game, Lucas Erickson singled to score Cooper Erickson to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead. Cooper Larson made it 3-0 on an RBI single to score Kyle Bridge. Lewiston tied the game in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs on a throwing error to make it 3-3.
Lewiston took the lead for good on an RBI single by Carson Kolb to make it 4-3 in the third.
“We’re a young team and we’ll get better as we go through the season,” Karns said. “We’re just making some young mistakes that we’ll continue to work on and get better throughout the season.”
Coeur d’Alene returns to action on Friday with a pair of games at Eagle High, facing Centennial and Eagle in a tournament in the Boise area.
FIRST GAME
Coeur d’Alene 000 104 1 — 6 5 5
Lewiston 001 180 x — 10 2 4
Ryan Schneider, Cooper Erickson (4), Bryce Hall (5), Aaron Gwaltney (5) and Richie Hackett; Killian Fox, Carson Kolb (5), Kyson Barden (6), Brice Bensching (6) and N/A.
HITS: Cd’A — Larson, Bridge, Karns, Mallory, Walker. Lew — Fox, Kolb. 2B — Larson, Kolb.
SECOND GAME
Coeur d’Alene 120 000 0 — 3 6 2
Lewiston 031 030 x — 7 9 3
Bryce Stockton, Owen Benson (3), Jesse Brown (5) and Lucas Erickson; Chris Ricard, Carson Kolb (5), Cruz Hepburn (7) and Jake Feger. W — Kolb. L — Benson.
HITS: Cd’A — Larson, Mallory, Karns, Smart, Erickson, Walker. Lew — Ricard, Bensching, Kolb 3, Jelinek 2, Massey, Taylor. 2B — Smart, Bensching, Jelinek.
Mt. Spokane 8
Lake City 7
COEUR d’ALENE — The host Timberwolves rallied from four runs down and had the tying run at second base in the sixth inning before falling to the Wildcats (1-2).
Camdyn Martindale’s two-run homer staked Lake City (0-2) to a 2-0 lead.
Cooper Reese’s two-run double in the fourth tied it at 4. After Mt. Spokane scored four runs in the top of the fifth, Nate Weatherhead hit a two-run single in the bottom half to pull the T-Wolves to within 8-6.
Lake City pitchers walked seven and hit four.
"We improved from the first game, so we're slowly getting better," Lake City coach Paul Manzardo said. "I think we'll be fine ... it's a work in progress."
Lake City plays at Shadle Park on Tuesday.
Mt. Spokane 030 140 0 — 8 4 0
Lake City 200 221 0 — 7 6 2
D. Huffman, E. Dozetell (3), J. Smith (5), No. 22 (6) and R. Schurmaan; Ethan Taylor, Zach Garza (2), Nathan Brillhart (5), AJ Currie (5), Karl Schwarzer (5) and Cooper Smith.
HITS: MS — Wideman 2, Schurmaan, Davis. LC — Bumbaugh, Martindale 2, Weatherhead, Reese 2. 2B — Wideman, Reese. HR — Martindale.
Post Falls JV at
St. Maries, ppd.
ST. MARIES — The games were postponed due to wet field conditions.
No makeup date was announced.