Lakers finish second at Battle at the Beach
(Photo by BILL ANTHONY PHOTOGRAPHY) Lakers Catcher Thomas Riley, right, makes a call at the plate as teammate Tyrone Larson, left, makes the tag on a rare 8-6-1 double play to end the inning in the bottom of the 6th.
SANDPOINT — Boasting one of the best Sandpoint American Legion teams in a decade, the North Idaho Lakers made it to the championship game of the first-ever Battle at the Beach Wooden Bat Tournament last weekend in Sandpoint.
Eight teams were on hand to compete in the U19 Seniors A division, with the Lakers losing 7-5 in a back and forth championship game to the Shadle Park Shockers.
Sydney Bottomley, Austin Greene and Garrett Connolly all knocked in runs in a four-run fourth inning, eveantually tying the game at 5-5 in the fifth.
“Overall we hit and bunted the ball well. Our rookie Caleb Davis got us started offensively with a big single up the middle. Garrett Connolly also came up huge for us in the fourth inning, picking up two RBIs with a single up the middle with two outs and the bases loaded, a full count and runners going on the pitch,” described coach Ken Oler. “I couldn’t have asked for better execution by Connolly and the runners, it was pretty.”
Tyrone Larson pitched six innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits while striking out three. The Lakers tallied seven hits in the game, with Billy Brackett adding two singles, and Caleb Edlund adding two hits and a double.
“Tyrone is just a beast when he is on,” described Oler. “He has an extremely high baseball IQ and gets involved in just about every play. In the bottom of the 6th the play he made to get the tag at home on a 8-6-4 double play was just incredible.”
The Lakers didn’t commit a single error in the field. Brackett had seven chances in the field, the most on the team, displaying his usual solid defense at short.
The Lakers are in Libby for the four-day Big Bucks Tournament, where they will look to defend their title.