Sandpoint drops a pair of hard-fought games to Lakeland

SANDPOINT — Sandpoint was defeated by Lakeland in a pair of games at Sandpoint Middle School on Saturday. The Bulldogs lost the first game 13-0 and the second game, 19-9.

The Bulldogs gave it their all in both of the rainy, mud-filled games against the Hawks. Even though Sandpoint could not pull out a win in the regular season finale, the field and weather conditions certainly made for a fun day.

In Game 1, after clearing all the water off the field, the Bulldogs fell behind early and could not quite recover. The Hawks scored 12 out of their 13 runs in the first three innings.

The Bulldogs were able to get a couple baserunners against Lakeland’s Emma Avalos thanks to singles by Ashlyn Darling and Mayle Ducken, but not enough to bat in a run.

Avalos went five complete innings on the mound giving up just two hits, one walk, and striking out four batters. The Hawks were led by Kyla Holte, who went 2-for-3 with two singles, two RBIs, and two runs scored in the 13-0 win.

In Game 2, even though Sandpoint could not pull out a victory, the team really turned things around. After going down 11-3 after two innings, the Bulldogs held their own for the rest of the game.

In the bottom of the first, Ali Knowles was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score the first run for Sandpoint. On the next at-bat, Hayden Kobertsein singled on a shallow pop fly to right field to score two runs for the Bulldogs.

In the bottom of the third, despite a nine-run deficit, the Bulldogs kept battling. Ainsley Hull hit an RBI triple to the right field fence. Sara Bryson scored Hull on the next at-bat with a single down the third base line. In the fourth, Knowles hit a single to center field to add on another run to bring the score to 12-6 Hawks.

The Bulldogs refused to back down. In the bottom of the fifth, Bryson and Cadence Skibitsky both notched some clutch base hits. Bryson hit an RBI single to center and Skitbitsky hit an RBI double to left center that scored two, 14-9 Bulldogs.

Unfortunately, even after some great plays at first base by Koberstein, and some thrilling center field catches by Skibitsky, the Hawks caught fire in the top of sixth. Lakeland scored five runs, all with two outs, to put the game out of reach.

“The field conditions and weather made it tough to play today, but we bounced back well mentally in the second game,” head coach Elizabeth Hawkins-Williams said. “We were hitting the ball hard and putting it in play, which made some good things happen for us. Hitting with runners in scoring position has been a struggle for us this year, so the performances by Ali Knowles, Cadence Skibitsky, and Hayden Koberstein, who all had two RBI’s, were wins for us today.”

The Bulldogs will be back in action for the 4A Inland Empire conference playoffs on Tuesday, May 9 against Lakeland at Moscow High School.

GAME ONE

LAKELAND 13, SANDPOINT 0

LAKELAND – 426 10 – 13 9 1

SANDPOINT – 000 00 – 0 2 4

SPT – Mayle Ducken, Ashlyn Darling (5) & Darling, Elizabeth Dysart (4). LHS – E. Avalos & P. Sterling.

HITS: SPT – Darling, Ducken. LHS – Hanna 2, Holte 2, Byrne, Dewey, Avalos, Zeilstra, Zimmerman.

2B – Zeilstra, Dewey.

GAME TWO

LAKELAND 19, SANDPOINT 9

LAKELAND – 651 025 – 19 18 6

SANDPOINT – 302 130 – 9 8 5

SPT – Darling, Ainsley Hull (3) & Dysart, Bailey Lancaster (5). LHS – M. Briggs, Kesner (3) & Sterling.

HITS: SPT – Bryson 2, Hull 2, Koberstein, Knowles, McCown, Skibitsky. LHS – Hanna 3, Kesner 3, Dewey 2, Avalos 2, Sterling 2, Barnard 2, Zimmerman 2, Holte, Briggs.

2B – Sterling, Hanna, Skibitsky. 3B – Hull, Zimmerman. HR – Briggs.