Four run inning dooms Bulldogs in championship
(Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Sandpoint third baseman Tyler Shaffer applies the tag to a Lakeland base runner. as the Bulldogs’ season came to an end on Wednesday in Rathdrum.
RATHDRUM — Lakeland High senior Jared McDaniel bucked a nagging slump in a precarious scenario Wednesday: go to state or go home.
The Hawks’ trusty catcher went 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs against Sandpoint at Terry Gorton Field, boosting his club to a 7-4 4A Region I tournament championship.
Lakeland (11-8) advances to next week’s state tournament at Bishop Kelly in Boise, where it will face the runner-up from District 5-6 on Thursday.
Sandpoint (9-9), which split with Lakeland at two games apiece during the regular season, saw its season come to a close.
A four-run, five-hit fourth inning lifted Lakeland, which won its sixth Region I tournament title in eight years.
The Hawks trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the frame, but were able to manufacture a hitting deluge with two outs. This time, it was senior Ryan Pote who generated the spark. Pote’s two-RBI triple off the right-center fence preceded an RBI double by McDaniel. giving the Hawks a 4-2 advantage.
They weren’t done, either.
When the Bulldogs opted to relieve starter Thomas Riley for Wes Holland to try and close the Sandpoint’s disastrous inning, JJ Mackesy packed an RBI single.
Lakeland added a pair or insurance runs in the sixth inning.
First-year Sandpoint coach Chase Tigert liked his upstart team’s effort, but felt his team was ultimately doomed by the fourth and sixth innings.
“Anytime you give up a crooked number, that’s going to be hard to come back from” Tigert said. “We needed to minimize the damage in those two innings.”
Sandpoint outhit the Hawks 13-11 and committed two less errors.
The Bulldogs, trailing 7-3 heading into the top of the seventh, plated a run thanks to an RBI single by Alex Stockton. Pote closed the game in the seventh, though, with the tying run at the plate.
“That’s the game of baseball,” Tigert said. “You can do everything right, and sometimes it won’t go your way. But I am proud of these guys. They’ve battled all year.”
Nick Holland had two hits and RBIs for Sandpoint, and Caleb Edlund chipped in three hits.
“That’s the best Sandpoint team I’ve seen in a long time,” Bradbury said.” They’ve really been building. We feared them up and down the lineup.”
Sandpoint 011 010 1 — 4 13 2
Lakeland 010 402 x — 7 11 4
Thomas Riley, Wes Holland (4) and Nick Holland; Dylan Bradbury, Joe Strietzel (5), Ryan Pote (7) and Jared McDaniel. W — Bradbury. L — Riley (1-2)
HITS: Spt — Shaffer, Bracket, Edlund 3, N. Holland 2, Flint 2, Stockton 2, Lehman 2. LL — Neilson, Pote, McDaniel 4, Mackesy 2, Bradbury, Zaken, Baker. 2B — Stockton, McDaniel, Mackesy, Zaken. 3B — Pote.