PREP SOFTBALL: Sandpoint falls to Timberlake in season-opener

SANDPOINT — The Tigers rallied late to take down the Bulldogs, 22-3 in Sandpoint’s season-opener at War Memorial Field on Thursday.

Timberlake got on the board with two runs in the top of the first, but Sandpoint matched the Tigers in the bottom half of the inning. Peyton Cessna hit an RBI single to right field for the first Sandpoint run of 2024. Ainsley Hull drove in another run after reaching on an error. Timberlake, however, would go on to score the next 13 runs, and would finish off the game with seven more in the fifth inning.

In the fourth, that’s where Sandpoint drove in their third run after Bailey Lancaster ripped a line drive down the third base line for a double, the Bulldogs’ only extra-base hit on the day. Kaylee McCown would get hit by a pitch later in the inning which drove in Haley Smotherman, who singled before Lancaster’s great hit.

Cadence Skibitsky led the Bulldogs at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two singles and a run scored.

“We had a new sophomore pitcher who stepped up today, Haley Smotherman, who is new to the area from Nevada,” head coach Leah Platt said. “I also thought Bailey Lancaster played well. We just have to work on some things. Being outside right now is amazing and that’s only going to help us going forward.”

Sandpoint (0-1) will head to the Tri-Cities Invitational set to be held this Saturday.

Timberlake 261 67X X — 22 16 1

Sandpoint 200 10X X — 3 6 5

W — Whaley. L — Hull.

HITS: SPT —  Skibitsky 2, McCown 1, Cessna 1, Lancaster 1, Smotherman 1. TL — Walsh 4, Pecor 3, Kitchin 2, Dykes 2, Allaway 2, Johnson 1, Whaley 1, Needs 1.

2B — Pecor 2, Lancaster, Allaway, Walsh, Kitchin, Johnson.

RBI: SPT — McCown 1, Cessna 1. TL — Walsh 6, Kitchin 5, Pecor 4, Dykes 2, Allaway 2, Ferris 1, Needs 1.

SB: SPT — None. TL — Dykes 1.