CDA GAINS SEMIS OF STATE AA LEGION

Coeur d'Alene scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to take an 11-9 win over the Caldwell Silver Streaks in the nightcap of the Idaho State AA Legion Baseball Tournament Monday at Harris Field.

The Allies will play the Lewis-Clark Twins in a semifinal game today at 4 p.m.

at Harris Field.

The Allies had an 8-4 lead going into the bottom of the seventh with two outs, but an error by shortstop Tim Gittel gave new life to the Silver Streaks. Josh McDonald reached first on the miscue, and Caldwell responded with four consecutive hits for three runs to make the score 8-7.

That also meant the end for pitcher Vince Rossi, who pitched 6-2/3 innings and gave up 13 hits. He was relieved by Blake Whiteman.

The Allies started strong with three runs on five hits in the first inning, followed by two more runs in the second on three hits. Two more runs came for the Allies in the fourth inning on a hit, two Caldwell errors and two base on balls, and the Silver Streaks got out of the inning with the bases loaded. Sabastian Rodriguez relieved starting pitcher Trevor Wilson and Rodriguez struck out Robert Crain and Gittel to end the inning.

Allies (CdA) 22, Cowboys (Twin Falls) 11

The Cowboys pushed across 11 runs in the first five innings, but fell victim to a pitching shortage and the hot bats of the Allies as the Coeur d'Alene team bombasted the Twin Falls team with 18 runs in four innings to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule.

Andy Gore's grand slam in the eighth inning gave the Allies their 22nd run and the final punch in the slugfest.

Led by Kirk Gosch's 4-for-4 hitting, seven Allies had multiple hits, and the team had 18 for the game, including a three-RBI homer by Vincent Rossi in the Allies' seven-run sixth inning.

"We've got a good hitting ball club," said Allies coach Tracy Turrell.

Trailing 9-4 after four inning, the Allies roughed up Twin Falls starting pitcher Eric Rambo for four hits and four runs in the fifth. And with Rambo gone, the Allies had their way with a weak Cowboys bullpen. Twin Falls went through four relief pitchers until the game was called.

Cowboys coach Mike Federico admitted a lack of pitching depth. "I think our arms just ran out of game," he said.

Blake Whiteman gave the Allies 3-1/3 third innings, but was knocked out in Twin Falls' five-run fourth inning. Sean Moglia finished the game for the Allies, and blanked the Cowboys in the last three innings while the Allies seemed to be having batting practice.

"We were riding the wave," Turrell said. "We knew our defense eventually would get it together, and it did."

The Allies had four errors, and the Cowboys six, including an errant throw on a double play ball in the fifth that could have ended the inning. Instead, the Allies put together a six-run inning to regain the lead.

"I didn't expect our defense to play so bad," Federico said.

But he didn't underscore the batting of the Allies.

"They hit some balls pretty hard, and they kept applying pressue," he said. "We were unable to stop the big innings."

The Allies sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth and sixth innings.

Three Cowboys errors in the first inning helped the Allies to three runs on only one hit, but Twin Falls responded with two itself. The Allies added its fourth run in the third inning, and the Cowboys again responded with two runs to knot the score at four each.

Twin Falls' five-run fourth inning came on four hits and two errors by the Allies, including a catcher interference call that advanced all runners and left the bases loaded. The runs scored on doubles by Kelsey McLimans and Joe Durham and a single by Brandon Miller.

Kory Wilson belted three hits for the Allies, including one double. Also with two hits each were Chad Keefer, Gore, Holland, Rossi and Matt Brown.

Copyright 1999 Cowles Publishing Company
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.