Bulldogs take down Bears, fall to Hawks
RATHDRUM — Senior Jordan Speelmon wasted little time setting a tone in Tuesday’s 4A Region 1 softball tournament opener on Tuesday, smashing the first pitch of the game over the fence for her first home run of the season, propelling the No. 2 seed Bulldogs to a 9-5 win over No. 3 Moscow at Lakeland High School.
The win earned the Bulldogs (8-13) the right to play No. 1 seed Lakeland in the second game of the day, and the bats could not get going, as the Hawks won 9-0 to earn a spot in the championship game.
Sandpoint head coach Derek Dickinson praised the play of Speelmon, who also ripped two doubles and made a great catch and throw home for a big double play to kill a Moscow rally in the first game.
“First pitch of the game she just cranked it, a la Ricky Henderson,” described Dickinson of the home run. “It got us going and kind of set the tone and got us pumped up.”
Cody Baldree continues to swing a hot bat, lacing a three run inside-the-park home run, and fellow freshman Bre Williams had two RBIs for the Bulldogs, who continue to put up crooked numbers late in the season.
Casey Bottomley allowed eight hits and struck out eight Bears in going the distance for her eighth win of the season.
Kristin Klopatek struck out nine and drove in three runs and Erin Ogden had three hits for Lakeland (14-8), which faces the winner of Thursday’s game between Moscow (3-17) at Sandpoint (8-13) on Saturday at noon.
“She was tough tonight, mixing it up, changing eye levels,” said Dickinson of Klopatek. “We had some chances to score some runs early, and then she got in a rhythm.”
The win over Moscow earned the Bulldogs to host their first district tournament game in years, and Dickinson is hoping for a big home crowd to help extend his team’s season.
“I’m Eexcited to have a district tournament at home, I hope some people come out and support us,” said Dickinson. “We’ll need to get the bats going. Moscow can score some runs too.”
First pitch for the loser-out game is at 4 p.m. at Sandpoint Middle School.
Moscow 001 1 03 0 — 5 8 3
Sandpoint 114 300 0 — 9 10
Casey Bottomley and Jessica Strickland. W — Bottomley.
Hits: Spt — Speelmon 2, Buchmiller, Baldree 2, Williams, Elsfelder, Bluemer, Strickland 2. 2B — Bluemer, Speelmon. HR — Speelmon, Baldree.
Sandpoint 000 000 0 — 0 4 3
Lakeland 303 003 x — 9 15 0
Bottomley and Strickland; Kristin Klopatek and Tifani Schorzman. W — Klopatek (13-7). L — Bottomley (8-12).
HITS: Spt — Speelmon, Buchmiller, Baldree, Lawson. LL — Schwalbach, Ogden 3, Kastning 2, Schorzman, Klopatek 3, Langenderfer 2, Woolley, Bodek 2. 2B — Klopatek 2, Bodek, Speelmon.