Coeur d’Alene falls to Montana at Little League World Series Northwest Region semifinal

Josh Sears connected on a two-run single in a three-run third inning and Montana (Boulder Arrowhead) topped Coeur d’Alene 5-2 in a Little League World Series Northwest Region semifinal at Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, California, on Thursday.

Coeur d’Alene faces Oregon in an elimination game on Friday at noon. The winner will take on Montana in the region championship game on Saturday at noon.

The Idaho state champs took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. Caden Symons walked, followed by back-to-back singles by Avrey Cherry and Christopher Reynolds (2 for 3) to load the bases with no outs.

Pinch-runner Nolan Christ scored on a wild pitch and Cherry scored on a delayed squeeze play.

With two down in the bottom half, Montana had a pair reach via walk. Sears lashed a 1-0 pitch to medium right field where Austin DeBoer attempted a diving catch. The ball skidded past DeBoer and both runners scored. Jakob Wilcox followed with an RBI double down the left field line.

Montana picked up two insurance runs in the fifth.

Coeur d’Alene beat Washington 16-6 and Wyoming 13-1 earlier in the week to reach the semifinal.