PREP BASEBALL: Sandpoint puts pieces together, sweeps Lewiston

BASEBALL

Sandpoint 7, Lewiston 0

Sandpoint 16, Lewiston 6

SANDPOINT — On Saturday at War Memorial Field, the Bulldogs left no doubt that they're all-in this season.

Sophomore Brennan Shaw struck out seven batters over six scoreless innings in the opener, senior Drew Lehman and junior Mason Little both went 3-for-4 with two RBI in the nightcap and Sandpoint swept Lewiston in a 5A Inland Empire League doubleheader to propel themselves to second in the league standings.

Sandpoint High head coach Ricky Klontz said the pitching plan heading into game one was to just get a few innings out of Shaw, but he looked sharp early on and was in the zone.

"Brennan got a lot of weak contact and kept his pitch count down — it was great," coach Klontz said. "Him being able to go six innings was fantastic and helped our pitching out a lot. He threw really well."

At the plate, the Bulldogs got out to quick 3-0 lead after two innings, getting RBI singles from Lehman and senior Jesse Turner. In the fourth, Sandpoint, with zero outs, had five consecutive batters record hits. Little and junior Parker Reichart hit RBI singles and sophomore Carson Resso capped off the rally with an RBI double as the Bulldogs cruised to the 7-0 shutout victory.

In game two, Sandpoint's bats stayed out. After finding themselves in a 5-2 hole heading into the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs exploded for 14 runs over the next three frames to induce a run-rule victory. Lehman registered an RBI double, Little, Turner, and junior Dallen Williams RBI singles to round out a 6-run third frame. 

In the fourth inning, Little and Lehman, seeming to be unstoppable as of late, continued to rack up the clutch hits. Lehman, a Columba Basin College commit, crushed an RBI triple and Little an RBI double to extend the lead to 10-6. Turner, who was 2-for-2 with a team-high four RBI in the contest, then knocked a two-run triple of his own and junior Sage Medeiros tacked an RBI single to cap off a 5-run frame. Medeiros then smacked a two-run double in the fifth to end the game.

"Drew (Lehman) has been on fire all year and a steady bat in the middle of our order," coach Klontz said. "Mason (Little) struggled early, and we had conversations about sticking with the process... and now he's improved his batting average 160 points in the last six games. He's hitting the cover off the ball and his at-bats look good... Jesse (Turner) had a great day offensively too. If you look at our lineup from top to bottom we have guys that are catching fire at the right time."

As a team, the Bulldogs are now batting an impressive .292 after 18 games. The sweep Saturday, Sandpoint's first of the season, was something the team knew had to happen to remain in the race for the district's top seed.

"My plan all along was to keep our guys healthy, specifically for this stretch of games," Klontz, whose Bulldogs will face defending 4A (now 5A) state champions Moscow four times across their last six games of the season. "When we're healthy like we are now, there's not a team around that can beat us — I'd put us up against anybody. We've proven that with how we've played 6A schools and the teams in Boise. It's been a process and we seem to be peaking at the right time."

Sandpoint (8-10, 7-7) will host Bonners Ferry for a non-league doubleheader and senior night on Tuesday.

GAME ONE

Lewiston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 6 0

Sandpoint 1 2 0 0 4 0 X — 7 10 0

PITCHING

SPT — Shaw: 6IP, 5H, 0ER, 1BB, 7K. Brown: 1IP, 1H, 0ER, 0BB, 0K. LEW — Holthaus: 4IP, 8H, 6ER, 3BB, 0K. Miller: 2IP, 2H, 1ER, 2BB, 2K.

BATTING

HITS: SPT — Lehman 2, Reichart 2, Shaw 1, Caprio 1, Little 1, Resso 1, Turner 1, Inge 1. LEW — Casey 2, Bonebrake 2, Kennedy 1, Schumacher 1; 2B — Shaw, Resso, Casey; RBI: SPT — Resso 2, Turner 1, Reichart 1, Little 1, Lehman 1. LEW — None.

GAME TWO

Lewiston 0 0 5 1 0 — 6 7 5

Sandpoint 0 2 6 5 3 — 16 16 1

Game called after five innings due to run rule.

PITCHING

SPT — Medeiros: 3IP, 5H, 5ER, 3BB, 4K. Williams: 2IP, 2H, 0ER, 1BB, 2K. LEW — Estlund: 3IP, 7H, 1ER, 2BB, 2K. Raines: 1IP, 9H, 8ER, 2BB, 0K.

BATTING

HITS: SPT — Lehman 3, Little 3, Williams 2, Turner 2, Medeiros 2, Inge 1, Day 1, Reichart 1, Shaw 1. LEW — Krasselt 1, Holthaus 1, Bonebrake 1, Kennedy 1, Peterson 1, Bambacigno 1, Henson 1; 2B — Lehman, Little, Medeiros. 3B — Lehman, Turner, Bonebrake; RBI: SPT — Turner 4, Medeiros 3, Williams 2, Little 2, Lehman 2, Shaw 1. LEW — Bonebrake 3, Peterson 1, Kennedy 1, Casey 1.