Vikings shut out Lake City
One thing that can be said for sure about Coeur d’Alene High softball coach Larry Bieber is that he knows his team.
Minutes after a demoralizing 7-1 home loss Friday to crosstown rival Lake City, Bieber made a guarantee: His team would perform as a polar opposite in its next game.
Specifically, he mentioned Tuesday at Lake City – the second half of the home-and-home series.
Bieber proved prophetic as his Vikings, behind near-perfect pitching from senior ace Jenna DeLong and a 12-hit offensive explosion including a pair of two-run doubles by senior second baseman Jessyca Le, trounced the Timberwolves (4-2-1) 8-0.
But the transformation didn’t happen in a vacuum
“We had a team meeting yesterday, and we had another one this morning, and we had a practice before this game,” said Bieber. “I just told them, ‘That’s not us, and whatever happened Friday is not us. And it’s not going to happen again on my watch.’ “
Coeur d’Alene (4-5) went up 1-0 in the second inning with an unearned run off LC ace Stephanie Saadoun, but it was a seven-hit, five-run fifth that told the tale.
Designated hitter Heather Helmhout led off the big inning with a hard single off the glove of LC second baseman Richelle Fenenbock. Two batters later, Brianna Robson chopped one up the middle over a drawn-in infield to move Helmhout to third. Senior three-sport star Jackie Lenz followed with a low liner up the middle, plating Helmhout and bringing Le to the plate.
Le, who was unable to get her bat on the ball during a suicide squeeze play in the third, costing her team a double play, delivered on the first pitch, ripping a liner to the left-field gap. Lindsey Stark and Jordan Corbey added RBI singles later in the inning and the rout was on.
DeLong allowed just two hits while striking out nine, facing just six more than the minimum.
“My team just lit it up,” DeLong said. “I mean, they looked awesome.”
What made the difference for the Vikings was exactly what LC (4-2-1) lacked.
“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes for this team,” said LC coach Laura Tolzmann.
Also in the IEL Lakeland at Post Falls was rained out. The game will be made up with a doubleheader at Post Falls Saturday.
•Intermountain League: Kala Allred struck out 12 and allowed just two hits in a complete-game shutout, and Timberlake cruised to a 9-0 win at St. Maries (1-1). Mallory Foster went 3 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored, and Aften Allred chipped in two hits and two RBIs for the Tigers (3-0). … Bonners Ferry at Priest River was rained out. No makeup date has been set.
Baseball
•Inland Empire League: Lakeland at Post Falls was rained our with no makeup date set.
•Intermountain League: Adam Benda led off the sixth inning with a single, stole second base and scored the game-winning run after two Timberlake (0-6, 0-2) errors in a 6-5 St. Maries home win. Benda finished the game 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. Caleb Bell chipped in two hits, two RBIs and one run scored for the Lumberjacks (2-3, 2-0).