CdA wins, Lake City goes 1-1 at Idaho state softball

IDAHO FALLS – Even in a double-elimination state softball tournament, it’s “three strikes and you’re out.”

At this year’s 5A championships however, it was lightning strikes that chased the teams out as thunderstorms interrupted play three times Friday at Bonneville High School.

Both Coeur d’Alene and Lake City survived the rain and the Day 1 competition, each picking up a win between storm fronts.

CdA’s Vikings took down Highland in the opener, fighting through nerves for a 5-1 win.

In their second game, the Vikings were in a scoreless tie with Eagle through four innings when the final storm of the day drenched the infield and ended any chance for further play.

The T-Wolves dropped a 3-2 opener to Rocky Mountain before rallying to eliminate Skyline 11-2 in Game 2.

Lake City was scheduled to take on the Eagle-Coeur d’Alene loser in the scheduled 4 p.m. elimination game before play was postponed.

Coeur d’Alene won its game despite an early case of tournament jitters.

“We’ve got some young kids on this team and the state tournament is a new experience,” CdA coach Darren Taylor said. “It was kind of an ugly game for us, but we found a way to win it.”

In the Eagle game, Coeur d’Alene pitcher Breanna Burke had the Mustangs scoreless, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second. The two teams will pick it up tied 0-0 in the top of the fifth this morning.

On the other side of the Bonneville softball complex, Lake City had just dropped a 3-2 decision to a quality Rocky Mountain team in its opener.

The Timberwolves later found themselves trailing 2-1 to the hometown Skyline Grizzlies in an elimination game when rain and lightning forced a 30-minute delay in the third inning.

That half-hour timeout was just what Lake City needed, according to Timberwolves coach Jesse Lenz.

“It was kind of our reset button,” he said. “We got refocused, and once we got rolling we relax a little bit and show what kind of a team we are.”

Lake City did just that, scoring 10 unanswered runs over the next four innings. It was an offensive explosion highlighted by RBI doubles from Haley Loffer, Heather Hawks and Emma Gray, and a solo home run from Kimmi Cook.

Regardless of who his Timberwolves face in today’s elimination game, Lenz knows he has his hands full with Eagle, ranked No. 1 in the nation by maxpreps.com, or the familiar Vikings.

“One of them has to lose,” he said. “Whichever team that is, we will hope to roll the momentum we picked up today and turn it into another win.”

Scattered thunderstorms are predicted throughout the day in Idaho Falls.

4A State

The first day of the eight-team tournament at Twin Falls High School was rained out, forcing officials to create a single-elimination tournament for Saturday at TFHS and College of Southern Idaho. Sandpoint, the area’s representative, will play the host team at 9 a.m. at TFHS.

3A State

Bonners Ferry and Timberlake were eliminated from the tournament at Ward Park in Pocatello. Bonners Ferry (25-5) opened with a 9-4 loss to Homedale (25-2) before knocking Timberlake out with a 10-0 decision. The Badgers dropped a 10-6 game to Emmett (18-9) to end their stay. Timberlake opened with a 7-3 loss to Kimberly.

2A State

St. Maries (13-9) went 1-2 on the day to end its trip to the tournament at Blackfoot High School.

The Lumberjacks dropped a 9-5 game to Bear Lake (14-8) as Shalayne Hemmert struck out eight and went 2 for 3 with two RBIs for the winners.

St. Maries bounced back with a 12-2 win over Declo as Kelsey Auer finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs and Devyn Wilson went 4 for 4.

New Plymouth defeated the Lumberjacks 16-10 to end their tourney. New Plymouth’s Kenzie White struck out 10 strikeouts and went 3 for 5 with four RBIs. Teammate Aubrey Wilson was 3 for 5 with five RBIs.