Bulldogs suffer tough loss to Hawks in district championship
—Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Sandpoint senior outfielder Caiden Oliver makes a diving catch to rob a base hit in the loss on Tuesday.
—Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Sandpoint second baseman Caleb Edlund makes a slick defensive move by flipping the ball out of his glove to shortstop Davan Norris for the force out.
Turn focus to state play-in game Saturday
RATHDRUM — In a championship game, you need the breaks to go your way in a close game, and unfortunately, the breaks went in Lakeland’s favor in a 2-0 win over Sandpoint in the 4A Region 1 baseball championship on Tuesday in Rathdrum.
Patrick Kummer pitched four plus innings of shutout baseball to keep the Bulldogs (9-14) in the game, before Lakeland was able to plate two runs in the fifth inning, the only scoring of a game that featured a lot of great pitching and defense.
“Patrick pitched really well, and it was 0-0 going into the fifth,” described Bulldogs head coach Scott Fitchett. “They got a lead-off seeing-eye ground ball, then another single, and a bad hop that hit Paul (Sundquist) in the face scores a run.”
Lakeland (10-13) will the District 4 runner-up to open the state tournament next Thursday at Skip Walker Field on the campus of the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, while Sandpoint will play on Saturday for a state berth.
Talon Dewey was effective in relief of Kummer, but the Bulldogs were unable to get the key hit with runners on base.
“The pitchers kept the ball down in the zone. For Talon, it was probably as well as he’s thrown all year,” said Fitchett of his hard-throwing lefty. “They couldn’t really touch it. They got a sac fly and that was it.”
Six different Bulldogs had one hit each, including a double by Paul Sundquist that probably would have been out of some area fields.
“Paul smoked a ball that landed at the base of the fence that probably would have been out at Memorial,” said Fitchett. “We had a bunch of guys left on base. Nick (Holland), Wes Holland, Paul and Davan (Norris) all had good offensive days.”
The Sandpoint defense was strong all game, as neither team committed an error. Caiden Oliver laid out to make a diving catch in the outfield, Norris played strong at shortstop.
In a game that could have gone either way, a bad bounce and a sac fly proved the difference.
“What a great game,” Lakeland coach Jason Bradbury said. “Both teams played great and played error free baseball. These are exactly how you’d want a championship game to be played. Games like this are hard to coach because of the stress level, but in the end and after it’s all said and done, you can look back and be proud of how the game was played by both teams.”
The Bulldogs threatened down 2-0 in the sixth, when Nick Holland picked up a hit, Norris earned a walk and Dewey laced a ball to left field. Wanting to ignite a rally, Fitchett put pressure on the defense and sent Holland, who was thrown out at home in a huge momentum swing.
“I sent Nick and he gets thrown out and that kind of killed the rally,” admitted Fitchett. “It was real clean baseball defensively. Caiden and Davan both made diving catches. We’re at Lewiston on Saturday to see if we can get in the tournament.”
The Bulldogs are at a state play-in game on Saturday in Lewiston against the third-place team from District 3.
Sandpoint 000 000 0 — 0 6 0
Lakeland 000 020 x — 2 7 0
Patrick Kummer, Talon Dewey (5) and Nick Holland; Chris Schilling, Joe Strietzel (6) and Dylan Bradbury. W — Schilling. L — Kummer. S — Strietzel.
HITS: Spt — Oliver, Sundquist, N. Holland, Norris, Dewey, W. Holland. LL — Pote, Baker 2, Neilson 2, Blood, Strietzel. 2B — Sundquist, Neilson.