LEGION BASEBALL: Lums open with two losses at Missoula tourney

MISSOULA, Mont. — The Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen class AA American Legion baseball team opened its season with a pair of losses to a couple of seasoned squads on Saturday.

The Lums fell 9-1 in five innings to the Helena (Mont.) Senators, then lost 8-5 to the Vauxhall (Alberta) Academy of Baseball on the first day of the Missoula Mavericks Memorial Day Tournament at Lindborg-Cregg Field.

“We played two really good teams,” third-year Lums coach Darren Taylor said. “Helena is now 18-1; we saw their ace. Vauxhall is near the end of its season; they’re 32-6 now. We saw three guys who threw in the mid-80s for them.

“It was a tough start for us — get up at 4 in morning, drive three hours and play two teams in midseason form. But we lost two to them last year, and came back and won the tournament.”

Against Helena, Eric Bumbaugh hit a solo homer in the top of the fifth to pull Coeur d’Alene within 2-1.

AJ Currie pitched four strong innings for the Lums, but Helena broke it open with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth, helped in part by two Coeur d’Alene errors.

Against the Vauxhall Spurs 18U, Jesse Brown and Cooper Erickson each drove in a pair of runs for the Lums, who brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh before falling short.

“Vauxhall, they hit like a college team,” Taylor said. “They must have hit seven balls to the fence.”

Joe DuCoeur went 4 for 6 on the day for the Lums.

Coeur d’Alene plays the Badlands Baseball Academy 18U team from Alberta today at 9 a.m. PDT, and the host Missoula Mavericks on Monday, needing to win both to have a shot at making the championship game later Monday.

The five teams play a round-robin Saturday through Monday, and the top two teams meet for the title.

HELENA 9, LUMS 1

Coeur d’Alene 000 01 — 1 7 3

Helena 100 17 — 9 9 0

Game called in fifth inning due to tourney’s 8-run rule.

AJ Currie, Karl Schwarzer (5) and Joe DuCoeur; Luke Dowdy, Dylan Willcut (4) and Cole Graham.

HITS: Cd’A — Hall 2, Bumbaugh, DuCoeur 2, Robinett, Benson. Hel — Bahnmiller, Perlinski 2, Bennett, Mooney 2, Tietje, Bratlien, Ark. 2B — Mooney 2. 3B — Perlinski. HR — Bumbaugh.

VAUXHALL 8, LUMS 5

Coeur d’Alene 004 000 1 — 5 5 1

Vauxhall 230 201 x — 8 11 3

Owen Benson, Kyle Seman (6) and Joe DuCoeur; J. Boulanger, P. Austin (4) and C. Dick.

HITS: Cd’A — Hall, DuCoeur 2, Usdrowski, Shepard. Vaux — Andrachick, Dick 3, Kyip 2, Fisher 2, Ranger, Wheatley, Clemett. 2B — DuCoeur, Dick, Ranger. 3B — Dick 2, Kyip. HR — Fisher.