THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Cory Bridges had the right balance of 'really tough' and 'really fun'

Cory Bridges, who started the baseball program at Lake City High in 1995 and built the baseball field that would be known as "Cory's Quarry," was more than a baseball coach. 

"To me, he's dad No. 2 in a lot of ways," recalled Zach Clanton, who played for Bridges at Lake City, graduating in 2008. 

But really, he said Cory had an influence on him from the age of 10, when he was in Little League, up to age 22, when Zach completed his playing career at Lewis-Clark State College. 

"I made the same Little League team as Trent (Bridges; Cory's son) when I was 10," Clanton said. "I remember being upset that I didn't make a different team. I remember my dad saying 'Hey, this could be the best thing that could ever happen to you, Trent's on the team, that means Cory's going to be around every day. He's the best high school coach in the area; most kids don't get that kind of access at practice." 

Bridges passed away from pancreatic cancer on Sept. 21. He was 67. 

CORY BRIDGES graduated from Coeur d'Alene High in 1977, and played baseball for three years at Boise State and one year at Eastern Washington. He coached Coeur d'Alene's American Legion baseball team for many years, and retired from teaching in 2017 from Lake City after 34 years in education. 

"I am just thoroughly saddened about Cory passing," former Lake City athletic director Jim Winger said. "When I think of Cory, top notch comes to mind. He was a top-notch person, coach, father and husband. His wife and kids are top notch. His mom and dad and siblings were and are top notch. I played and coached baseball with his brother Johnny, and his brother Lance was a park and rec field supervisor when I was in little league. Both are great people." 

Winger was also a standout baseball player at Coeur d'Alene High, a few years after Bridges.  

In later years, Winger and Bridges worked together at Lake City, and Winger was the AD for much of that time. 

Bridges coached at Lake City for 14 seasons, posting a 190-168 overall record. Three of those Timberwolf teams reached the state title game — Lake City won it all in 2007, and was runner-up in 2004 and 2008. 

"I have been fortunate to have known Cory for probably over 45 years," Winger said. "I watched him play high school baseball — a cannon for an arm. I watched win a state title for Lake City. We worked together at Lakes Middle School many years ago. Obviously, we worked together at Lake City for a long time. All I can say about Cory is he is top notch." 

Jake Lenz played for Bridges on those early Lake City baseball teams, graduating in 2000. 

"Anybody that was around him would tell you he always had the biggest smile and was excited to see you," Lenz recalled. "One of the most athletic coaches I ever played for.I never saw coach lose a game of pickleball in P.E." 

SINCE ZACH was often on the same team as Trent, from Little League through high school, and their days as teammates at LC State, Cory was usually around. 

"He always coached me a little bit different," Zach recalled. "He always coached me hard, and coached me a lot like he coached Trent. I felt like he saw potential in me before a lot of other coaches did. That is going to get loyalty from me." 

At times, Cory was the "fun guy." Other times, he challenged his players. 

Most of the kids on the 2007 Lake City state championship team were juniors. 

The next season ... 

"We came off a state championship, and next season we started off slow and he had no problem telling us that we weren't as good as we thought we were, either," Zach said.  

When Zach and Trent's group was growing up, Cory would organize winter workouts. 

"He knew our class was good enough to go to Williamsport," Zach said. 

As it turned out, that Coeur d'Alene Little League team advanced to the Northwest Regional in San Bernardino, Calif., coming up just one game short of qualifying for the Little League World Series. 

In school, if Zach had a bad report card, his dad would hand the card to Cory, who would talk to Zach. 

"When he said something to me about my grades, it was way more important than anything my dad could have said to me," Zach said.   

While playing at Lake City, Zach said Cory would often call for the team to play a game called Yankee/Dodger the day before a game. 

It was basically a loose, fun practice. 

"It was a scrimmage where you played a position opposite of what you normally played," Zach said.  

Clanton, a right fielder, would play shortstop. Kyle Johnson, the center fielder, would play short for the other team. Trent, a shortstop, would play center field.  

"We all felt like we were amazing at those positions," Zach recalled. "Like, I was the best guy that was a shortstop that wasn't actually a shortstop." 

They kept the same teams all season, and kept track of who won and lost. 

"There was a part of it that maybe we learned the game more, playing positions we weren't accustomed to playing," Zach said. 

In later years, Zach coached with Cory in the Coeur d'Alene American Legion baseball program. When Zach was the Lums' coach, and later when he was head coach at Wenatchee Valley College, he would often have his team play Yankee/Dodger.  

CORY BRIDGES could also teach by doing. 

"My senior year, we were having a rough batting practice," Lenz recalled, "and he was getting frustrated. So he grabbed one of the players’ bats and took BP. He got 10 pitches and hit six balls over the fence. Then looked at us and said, “See It’s not that hard.”  

A celebration of Cory's life is scheduled for Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at the CaddyShack Pub & Grill on Prairie Avenue in Coeur d'Alene. 

"Me being around Cory from the time I was 10 to 22 helped set me up for life," said Clanton, who now lives in Spokane and works for Vertical Raise, a fundraising company for schools and other groups. "I was going to be able to work hard, receive criticism, teach someone, coach someone. I was a better baseball player, better human being because I was fortunate enough to be coached by him." 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports. 

    Press file Cory Bridges, left, was Lake City's head baseball coach from 1995-2008.