North Idaho Lakers split season opening DH
Zeke Roop fields a ball against Lake City at Memorial Field.
(Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Sandpoint's 19U American Legion team, the North Idaho Lakers opened up their season on Saturday, May 28, with a doubleheader against the Northern Lakes Mountaineers.
The Lakers split the doubleheader with the Mountaineers 3-1, 17-8, winning the opener in a low scoring battle.
Zeke Roop got the start on the mound. He allowed no runs on three hits, striking out 11 in five innings of work.
Alex Leverich came in to close the game out; he pitched two complete innings giving up one run on three hits, striking out one.
After two scoreless innings in the opener, the Lakers got on the board in the bottom of the third inning.
Avery Bocksch scored the first run with a full count and one out. He hit a one-run RBI triple into right field to score Trevor Brackett.
Finn Mellander scored the next run the same way he scored a lot of his runs during the high school season, with a timely hit.
The sophomore hit an RBI single into right field with two outs to give the Lakers a 2-0 advantage.
The defense of the Lakers was able to keep the Mountaineers at bay until the top of the sixth, where they scored their first run of the game.
The Lakers quickly responded in the bottom of the sixth after a Mountaineers' error.
The nightcap was a completely different game from the opener with 25 combined runs scored.
12 of those runs came from the Mountaineers in the top of the seventh inning.
The Lakers started the game off on fire, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning.
The Mountaineers went on to score one run in the top of the second to put themselves down 5-1.
The Lakers scored two more runs in the bottom half of the second to take a 7-1 lead.
From there, the Lakers were seemingly in cruise control, taking an 8-5 lead into the top of the seventh inning.
The Mountaineers only scored two earned runs during the top of the seventh. The other 10 came from walks or errors.
The Lakers went through six pitchers throughout the nightcap.
Jack Ringer got the start; he gave up four runs on two hits and struck out five.
Zach Leverich, Mellander, Mike Koch, and Cameron Garcia pitched in the final inning.
They gave up a combined 12 runs on two hits and struck out two. The group also walked eight batters.
The Lakers begin their season 1-1.
GAME ONE
NORTHERN LAKES MOUNTAINEERS 000 001 0 — 1 6 1
NORTH IDAHO LAKERS 002 001 X — 3 6 4
HITS: NLM — #1, #10 (2), #2 (2), #20. NIL — Bocksch 2, Mellander 2, Roop, Brackett. 3B — Bocksch.
GAME TWO
NORTHERN LAKES MOUNTAINEERS 010 301 (12) — 17 6 3
NORTH IDAHO LAKERS 520 001 0 — 8 6 3
HITS: NLM — #1, #7, #8, #17 (2), #3. NIL — Bocksch, Koch 2, Leverich, Butler, Terry. 2B — #1, #17, Butler. 3B — Terry.