PREP BASEBALL: Vikings rally, then sweep

COEUR d’ALENE — Down to its final swing, Coeur d’Alene just had to believe.

And Christ delivered.

Sophomore outfielder Nolan Christ’s two-out, two-strike, two-run single gave the Vikings a 9-8 lead in the top of the seventh and Ryan Schneider, who has signed with Division I Belmont in Nashville, Tenn., struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to close out the win over the Lake City Timberwolves in the first game of a 5A Inland Empire League doubleheader Tuesday at Lake City High.

Coeur d'Alene won 5-0 in the second game to complete the sweep.

“Nolan’s been seeing the ball very well and been hitting the ball hard, but right at guys in the last week,” Coeur d’Alene coach Erik Karns said. “It was good to see him break through in that spot.”

Coeur d'Alene remained one-game behind first-place Lewiston, which swept at Post Falls on Tuesday. The four 5A IEL teams wrap up the regular season with doubleheaders today.

Lake City had three errors in the sixth inning, allowing Coeur d’Alene to rally to take a 7-3 lead before the Timberwolves scored five in the bottom of the frame to take an 8-7 lead.

“We played terrible defense in the sixth inning,” Lake City coach Paul Manzardo said. “All of those errors were with two outs and nobody on base. We were in complete control of that game, and then fell apart defensively. We rallied, but just couldn’t shut the door defensively. It’s disappointing. We were in control of that game and just kind of fell apart.”

In the nightcap, Cooper Erickson and Schneider combined to shut out the Timberwolves (9-9, 4-6 5A IEL).

Schneider, who pitched the final three innings of the nightcap, struck out nine on the day for Coeur d’Alene is 16-5, 6-4.

“We threw our best at them, and they did the same,” Karns said. “It was just two really good teams battling and fighting it out.”

“Cooper did a great job of getting his curveball over, and we weren’t doing much with his fastball,” Manzardo said. “We left some guys on base and couldn’t get the big hit. We’d been playing well up until today, and to play that way was really disheartening. We didn’t play the way we thought we would.”

League doubleheaders for both come today, with Coeur d’Alene at Post Falls starting at 3 p.m., and Lewiston at Lake City starting at 2 p.m.

“The kids have to have a short-term memory,” Manzardo said. “We’ve got to play much better tomorrow.”

FIRST GAME

Coeur d’Alene 000 106 2 — 9 5 3

Lake City 300 005 0 — 8 4 3

Bryce Stockton, Owen Benson (6), Ryan Schneider (6) and Lucas Erickson; Cam Martindale, Nate Weatherhead (6), Kyle Schwarzer (6), AJ Currie (7) and Ethan Taylor.

HITS: Cd’A — Stockton, Bridge 3, Christ. LC — Taylor, Martindale, Bumbaugh, Garza. 2B — Bridge, Taylor. HR — Stockton.

SECOND GAME

Coeur d’Alene 200 100 2 — 5 7 0

Lake City 000 000 0 — 0 6 1

Cooper Erickson, Ryan Schneider (5) and Lucas Erickson; Cooper Reese, Kyle Schwarzer (4) and Joe DuCoeur.

HITS: Cd’A — Larson 2, Mallory, Smart 2, Schneider, Bridge. LC — Taylor 2, Martindale, Reynolds 2, Bumbaugh. 2B — Larson.

Lewiston 5-11

Post Falls 4-7

POST FALLS — The host Trojans loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning — the final inning due to darkness — but were unable to get any closer as the 5A IEL-leading Bengals swept the 5A Inland Empire League doubleheader at Post Falls High.

“We’re right there and have been competitive,” Post Falls coach Kurt Reese said. “We’re right on the doorstep of breaking through, but it just hasn’t happened yet.”

In the opener, CD Sharples struck out eight for Post Falls, but a throwing error in the fifth inning allowed Lewiston to score three runs to take control.

“CD pitched a great game, but we just had a breakdown in that inning,” Reese said. “It was really the defining moment of the game.”

In the nightcap, Sharples hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull the Trojans within 10-6.

Post Falls (9-11, 3-7 5A IEL) concludes the regular season with a 5A IEL doubleheader against visiting Coeur d’Alene at 3 p.m. today.

Lewiston (18-4, 7-3) visits Lake City today for a twinbill starting at 2 p.m., needing one win to secure the top seed to the 5A Region 1 tournament next week.

FIRST GAME

Lewiston 002 030 0 — 5 4 2

Post Falls 111 010 0 — 4 7 4

Tucker Konkol, Cruz Hepburn (6) and Wyett Lopez, Jake Feger (6); CD Sharples and Jered Taylor.

HITS: Lew — Hepburn, Ricard 2, Daniel. PF — Naylor 2, DeBoer, Sharples 2, Chamberlain, Taylor. 2B — Hepburn.

SECOND GAME

Lewiston 050 321 — 11 8 2

Post Falls 011 041 — 7 9 5

Game called after 6 innings due to darkness.

Carson Kolb, Elliott Taylor (3), Brice Bensching (6) and Jake Feger; Austin DeBoer, Tanner Sessions (2), Isaac Ziegler (4), Mason Whitten (6) and Jerad Taylor.

HITS: Lew — Jelinek, Ricard, Barden 2, Kolb, Bensching, Daniel, Taylor. PF — Naylor 2, Smith, Sharples, Taylor 2, Sessions 3. 2B — Ricard, Taylor, Barden. 3B — Barden, Naylor. HR — Sharples.

Bonners Ferry 3-12

Kellogg 0-10

OSBURN — Trey Bateman had five RBIs on the day, two coming in the first game for the Badgers, who swept the Wildcats in an Intermountain League doubleheader at Morehouse Field to clinch the second seed for the 3A District 1 tournament starting Monday.

Teigan Banning struck out eight for the Badgers in the opener. Bonners Ferry (11-11, 8-4 IML) will host Kellogg (9-8, 7-5) in the opening round. Timberlake (13-6, 9-3) hosts Priest River (2-16, 0-12) in the other opening round game on Monday.

FIRST GAME

Bonners Ferry 002 100 0 — 3 9 0

Kellogg 000 000 0 — 0 1 1

Teigan Banning and Trey Bateman; Riply Luna and Luke Frohlich.

HITS: BF — B. Bateman 2, T. Bateman 2, Rice 2, Hammons, Dahl 2. Kell — Hoffman. 2B — Dahl.

SECOND GAME

Bonners Ferry 151 011 3 — 12 14 3

Kellogg 206 000 2 — 10 7 3

David Hammons, Elijah Dahl (3), Porter Schulte (3), Wilson Newell (6), Nick Eastman (7) and Trey Bateman; Travis Eixenberger, Alex Goodner (7) and Luke Frohlich.

HITS: BF — B. Bateman, T. Bateman 2, Banning 2, Rice 2, Newell, Hammons 4, Dahl, Eastman 2. Kell — R. Luna, Eixenberger, Meredith 2, Rainio, Hoffman 2. 2B — T. Bateman 2, Hammons 2, Rice, Meredith, Eixenberger, Hoffman.

Grangeville 6

St. Maries 1

JULIAETTA — Trace Wicks had two of St. Maries’ four hits, and Shaun Hunter doubled and scored on an error in the seventh inning for the Lumberjacks’ lone run in the Central Idaho League loss to the Bulldogs late Monday.

St. Maries fell to 3-9, 1-3 CIL.

Grangeville is 5-12, 2-2.

St. Maries plays host to Kellogg on Thursday.

St. Maries 000 000 1 — 1 4 4

Grangeville 003 102 x — 6 10 2

Wyatt Holmes, Trace Wicks (6) and Dillon Holder; David Goicoa, Jefffery Jackson (7) and Cody Klement.

HITS: SM — Wicks 2, Hunter, Holder. Grange — Lefebvre 3, Klement 2, Goicoa 2, J. Lindsley, Holes 2. 2B — Holder, Hunter, J. Lindsley.