PREP BASEBALL: Lakeland squeezes past Moscow en route to split
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Cash Lund of Lakeland slides home with a run in game two vs. Moscow on Thursday at Gorton Field in Rathdrum, as Bears pitcher Levi Anderson covers.
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lakeland first baseman Blaze Day tags out Ethan McLaughlin of Moscow in a rundown Thursday during an Inland Empire League baseball doubleheader at Gorton Field in Rathdrum.
RATHDRUM — That first game, it ended just lovely for Lakeland on Thursday afternoon.
Lakeland sophomore Lovie Weil successfully squeezed Hans Pluid home with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, sending the Hawks past the Moscow Bears 3-2 in the first game of an Inland Empire League doubleheader at Gorton Field on Thursday.
“Lovie had been struggling making good contact the whole game,” Lakeland coach Jason Bradbury said. “So I gave him the safety squeeze sign. His eyes lit up, and I knew he was going to do the job.”
Lakeland trailed 2-0 entering the final frame, but got RBIs from Blaze Day and Jace Cooksey in the inning to tie the game en route to the Hawks' first win of the season.
“It was nice to finally come out on the right side of the scoreboard,” Bradbury said. “I was super proud of the way my players never gave up. That bottom of the seventh was super exciting. To have a couple of walks and hits to load the bases with two runs already scored was a pretty cool feeling.”
In the nightcap, Moscow scored 10 runs in the top of the fourth inning to win 13-2 and get the split.
“We competed really well until the fourth, and then the wheels fell off,” Bradbury said. “Moscow did a great job squaring the ball up, and then we just went flat. It was a good lesson for us. We have to keep competing, and when times get tough, we have to bear down and take control. We didn’t do a very good job of that.”
Lakeland (1-10, 1-5 IEL) hosts Kellogg on Saturday in a single game at noon.
Moscow is 3-10, 1-5.
FIRST GAME
Moscow 002 000 0 — 2 3 1
Lakeland 000 000 3 — 3 8 2
One out when winning run scored.
Butch Kiblen, Connor Isakson (6) and Tyson Izzo; Tadgh Ellwood, Roan Reilly (7) and Jace Cooksey. W — Reilly. L — Isakson.
HITS: Mos — Isakson, Anderson, Driskill. LL — R. Ellwood, Mason 2, Taylor 2, Day, Weil 2. 2B — Taylor.
SECOND GAME
Moscow 100 (10)2 — 13 9 1
Lakeland 010 01 — 2 3 1
Game called after 5 innings due to 10-run rule.
Levi Anderson and Tyson Izzo; Roan Reilly, Raiston Ellwood (4), Jace Taylor (4), Hans Pluid (5) and Jace Cooksey. W — Anderson. L — Reilly.
HITS: Mos — Isakson 2, Kiblen, Izzo, Anderson, Driskill 2, McLaughlin, Breese. LL — Day, T. Ellwood, Lund. 2B — Breese, McLaughlin, Driskill, Isakson, Day.
Freeman 7
St. Maries 1
ROCKFORD, Wash. — Trace Wicks singled to lead off the game and eventually scored, but that was it for the visiting Lumberjacks’ offense in a nonleague loss to the Scotties.
Bodie Ramsey hit a two-run triple in the first inning for Freeman (6-6).
St. Maries (3-4) is scheduled to play host to Bonners Ferry on Saturday in a doubleheader.
St. Maries 100 000 0 — 1 4 2
Freeman 303 001 x — 7 7 5
Wyatt Holmes, Brock Anderson (3) and Dillon Holder; Vance Coyner, Zach Hayek (7) and Brenan Ladwig.
HITS: SM — Wicks 2, Anderson 2, Holder. Free — McLean, Coyner, Ramsey, Ladwig, Rae, Morphy, Berryman. 2B — McLean. 3B — Ramsey.
