LEGION BASEBALL: Lums win Missoula tourney
Courtesy photo The Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen class "AA" American Legion baseball team poses with its hardware after winning the Missoula Mavericks Memorial Day Tournament on Monday in Missoula. In the front row from left are AJ Currie, Bryce Hall, Joe DuCoeur, Jayden Butler, Parker Rimpau, Eric Bumbaugh and Troy Shepard; and back row from left, assistant coach Andy Beaudry, assistant coach Mike Criswell, Ethan Taylor, Jesse Brown, Kyle Bridge, Cooper Larson, Spencer Zeller, Cooper Erickson, Ryan Schneider, Lucas Erickson, Austin Taylor, head coach Darren Taylor and Owen Benson.
MISSOULA, Mont. — An 0-2 start wasn’t enough to keep the Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen “AA” team out of the championship game of the Missoula Mavericks Memorial Day Tournament.
And once they got there, giving up seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning wasn’t going to keep the Lums from finishing the job.
Coeur d’Alene beat Lewis-Clark on Sunday and the Missoula Mavericks 7-4 earlier Monday to finish 2-2 in pool play, earning their way into the championship game of the five-team tournament via a run-differential tiebreaker.
Coeur d’Alene quickly turned around and played again in the title game, and the Lums avenged a loss to Vauxhall Academy earlier in the tourney by beating the Alberta squad 12-9 in eight innings for the championship.
“We played well yesterday and today, like I knew we would,” second-year Coeur d’Alene coach Darren Taylor said. “We simplified stuff (the last three games); just let ’em play. We’re always going to score runs.”
Coeur d’Alene led 9-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh. But the Jets crept closer with a two-run double, then tied it on a two-out, three-run triple.
“They were a little dejected,” Taylor said of his team coming off the field.
In the top of the eighth, the first three Lums walked. After a fielders choice at the plate for the first out, a passed ball on strike three allowed Ryan Schneider to score the go-ahead run, and then Cooper Larson and Eric Bumbaugh (all the way from second) scored on a wild pitch.
“We have all the ingredients,” Taylor said. “We have plenty of pitchers — Jesse Brown and Cooper Erickson were spot-on today. We’ve got speed, a little bit of pop … ”
Bumbaugh had an RBI double in the third inning to make it 5-1 Coeur d’Alene, and Cooper Erickson hit a two-run single in the fourth to increase the Lums’ lead to 9-1.
Earlier Monday, Lucas Erickson drove in a pair of runs, the second on a sacrifice fly in the sixth to put the Lums ahead to stay, 5-4. Larson added a pair of RBI singles for Coeur d’Alene, and Schneider was 3 for 3 with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored.
Coeur d’Alene, Helena and Missoula all finished 2-2 in round-robin play, and the Lums advanced to the title game vs. Vauxhall (3-1) based on fewest runs allowed.
Coeur d’Alene returns to action Thursday, playing host to the Spokane Cannons at 6 p.m. at Thorco Field.
COEUR d’ALENE 7, MISSOULA MAVERICKS 4
Coeur d’Alene 100 301 2 — 7 10 3
Missoula 012 010 0 — 4 9 2
Cooper Erickson, Owen Benson (6) and Lucas Erickson, Joe DuCoeur (7); E. Higgins and M. Prather.
HITS: Cd’A — Bridge, Zeller, Schneider 3, Larson 2, Bumbaugh, Erickson, A. Taylor. Miss — Jones, Black, Dill 3, Palmer, Jordan, Parker. 2B — Bumbaugh, Black, Parker. 3B — Schneider.
COEUR d’ALENE 12, VAUXHALL 9, 8 INN.
Coeur d’Alene 104 400 03 — 12 7 3
Vauxhall 100 100 70 — 9 8 2
Jesse Brown, Ethan Taylor (6), Bryce Hall (7), Lucas Erickson (8) and Joe DuCoeur; D. Stewart, P. Austin (4), M. Mackenzie (7) and C. Dick.
HITS: Cd’A — Zeller, DuCoeur, Schneider 2, Larson, Bumbaugh, Erickson. Vaux — Shakotko 2, Yip, Bendfied, McTavish 2, Pearce, Fisher. 2B — DuCoeur, Bumbaugh, McTavish. 3B — Shakotko.