Low turnout cancels American Legion baseball season

SANDPOINT — Unusually low player turnout has forced the cancellation of the 2008 Riley Creek Lakers American Legion Baseball season.

Only six players showed up for the tryout recently, from the Sandpoint, Priest River and Bonners Ferry High School areas. Head coach Rick Klontz was disappointed in the low turnout of Sandpoint kids, noting there are nine returning varsity players on the SHS baseball team that opted not to turn out this year.

“The hard part is we built the program up,” explained Klontz. “To have it go down like this is really disheartening.”

Both the Sandpoint High School and Legion teams have made the playoffs three of the last four seasons, making it a tough pill to swallow for Klontz. He was forced to make a decision because of the year’s scheduling, and hopes the program will return next year after a one-year hiatus. It’s been nearly 15 years since there was no Legion team in Sandpoint.

? Former Sandpoint resident called up to the big leagues

Joe Mather, who was born in Sandpoint and whose father Paul Mather was a former Legion coach in Sandpoint in the late 80s, was recently called up as an outfielder with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mather, a 6-foot-4, 195 pound rightfielder, went 2-4 and scored two runs on Monday in a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had hit .315, with 12 home runs for AAA Memphis before his call-up last week, and is hitting .286 in spot duty so far with the Cardinals.

Mather was born in Sandpoint in 1982, and lived there a number of years before moving to Coeur d’Alene, where his father coached the Legion team for a while. He went to high school in California after that.

? Little League raffle winners announced

On Saturday, May 31, Sandpoint Babe Ruth and Little League had their Woods Meats Beef Raffle. The following prizes were given away along with the following winners:

First Prize: GRAND SLAM — 300 pounds of beef valued at $600. Won by C.J. Bradetich.

Second Prize: DOUBLE HEADER — A combination of steaks and hamburger patties valued at $150. Won by Kristan Lynch.

Third Prize: BALL PARK SPECIAL — A collection of Wood’s Meats hotdogs valued at $75. Won by John Zolla

Sandpoint Little League would like to thank this great community for all those who purchased tickets to help support Sandpoint youth baseball. Special thanks should go to Stacey Lukac of Selkirk Press and Louise Woods from Wood’s Meat for all their help with this promotion.