Lakers walk-off Orofino, fall to Northern Lakes to end tourney run
Jorden Tyler and Zeke Roop comfort Jayden Kuprienko (17) after a collision at first base against the Camas Prairie Zephyrs in the first round of the Class A District A Legion tournament.
Photo by Max Oswald
Greysen Johnson stands in the batter's box in a game earlier this season. Johnson hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning to propel the Lakers over Orofino, 8-7.
Zeke Roop gets ready to throw a pitch in a game against the Northern Lakes Mountaineers in the Class A District A Legion tournament.
SANDPOINT — The North Idaho Lakers finished third in the District A Class A Legion baseball tournament held at War Memorial Field.
Sunday, the team came back and hit a walk-off single against Orofino to win 8-7 and stay alive. Immediately after the game ended, the Lakers had to take on the Northern Lakes Mountaineers and were defeated 9-1, which ended their tournament run. The Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen A team won the championship, 10-3, over the Mountaineers on Monday.
It was a hard-fought weekend all around from the Lakers — from a 14-inning game, 90-degree weather, and five games in a span of 48 hours, three of which were decided by one run — it’s safe to say that the team gave it their all.
The team’s grit was on display against Orofino on Sunday. The Lakers led 4-0 after four innings and seemed to be cruising to another victory, but the Merchants had other ideas. Orofino was finally able to score against North Idaho’s Mason Little in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Lakers found themselves trailing 7-6.
After a couple of walks and back-to-back singles by Jorden Tyler and Sage Medeiros, the Lakers found themselves tied 7-7 after Tyler stole home on a passed ball. With one out and the bases now loaded, Greysen Johnson singled to left field to give the Lakers an 8-7 walk-off victory. Johnson went 2-for-3 on the day with a single, a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Medeiros reached base in all five of his plate appearances; he went 3-for-3 with three singles, two runs scored, two walks and an RBI. Brent Campbell went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Little’s leadoff triple in the top of the first that ended up plating a run proved to be crucial in hindsight.
No more than 20 minutes after the victory, the Lakers would have to take on the Northern Lakes Mountaineers. The team fell behind 7-0 early on and was never quite able to recover.
Brent Campbell had trouble finding the strike zone and did not make it out of the first inning, giving up three runs in the process. Soren Caprio relieved Campbell and finished out the game. After giving up four runs in the second inning (two earned), Caprio settled down and found his groove; he pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and three earned runs while striking out one batter.
The Lakers were only able to plate one run after Little singled in the third inning and Caprio scored on a throwing error. Little and Reichart accounted for four of the five Lakers’ hits in the contest.
The North Idaho Lakers officially finished out their season with a 14-12 record. The Lakers were the only team to defeat Coeur d’Alene in conference play this season. The team also swept the Moscow Generals, the St. Maries Savages, and defeated a tough opponent in the Lockwood Razerbacks (Billings, Mont.-based legion team), at the Libby Big Bucks tournament.
OROFINO 7, NORTH IDAHO 8
Orofino 000 023 2 – 7 10 0
North Idaho 112 011 2 – 8 11 0
W – Tyler. L – Barlow.
HITS: NIL – Medeiros 3, Campbell 2, Johnson 2, Caprio, Inge, Tyler, Little. ORM – Barlow 3, Olive 2, Rigney, Christopherson, Q. Naranjo, Phillips.
2B – Barlow 2, Johnson. 3B – Little. HR – Rigney.
NORTH IDAHO 1, NORTHERN LAKES 9
North Idaho 001 000 0 – 1 5 2
Northern Lakes 340 002 X – 9 9 1
W – Pemberton. L – Campbell.
HITS: NIL – Little 2, Reichart 2, Caprio. NLM – T. Ellwood 3, Horn 3, Mason, R. Ellwood, Lenz.
2B – Caprio, T. Ellwood, Horn. 3B – T. Ellwood.
