ALLIES, CARDINALS OPEN WITH LOSSES

AMERICAN LEGION

Maybe it was the heat of Lewiston's Banana Belt. Or maybe it was the jitters of state tournament play. Or maybe the position of the stars was a factor.

Whatever, the sails of the two North Idaho American Legion baseball teams went windless as both were shut out in Saturday's opening round of the Idaho State AA Tounament at Harris Field.

The Upper Valley Bulldogs of Rexburg (27-18) blanked the Alliance Title Allies (34-20) of Coeur d'Alene 10-0 in the opening game, and the Boise Gems (38-13) stymied the Prairie Cardinals of Post Falls (32-23) 11-0 in the second game.

Both games were called in the 8th innings because of the 10-run rule. It also was the first shutout defeat for either North Idaho team this summer.

What's more, both teams will have a familiar opponent in the losers bracket of the double elimination tournament today - each other. The game starts at 9 a. m. at Harris Field. The Allies have the pre-game edge, having beaten the Cardinals five times in six games this season.

Bulldogs 10, Allies 0

The Bulldogs picked up lone runs in the fourth and sixth innings and then exploded for a game-ending eight runs in the eighth - which proved disastrous for the Allies.

Until then, CdA pitcher Kirk Gosch had allowed just five hits and struck out 12, including three each in the first and third innings.

But it was in the seventh when the Allies blew a great chance by failing to score after loading the bases with no outs. A single by Kory Wilson, a walk to Vincent Rossi and a bunt single by Brad Ross set the stage for leadoff hitter Chad Keefer.

Keefer lofted a short fly to left field that was caught by the Bulldogs' Tom Kunz. Kunz threw to third baseman Josh Thornock, who then tagged out Wilson, who was diving back to the bag after starting for home then changing his mind.

Another fly out ended the inning and left the Allies dejected, as well as scoreless.

"That took a great game and just turned it around," said Bulldogs coach Bryan Ayers. "They (Allies) played a great game for 7-1/2 innings."

The Allies had runners on base in each inning.

"We beat ourselves," said Allies coach Tracy Turrell. "The more we went, the more frustrated we got."

Upper Valley's eight runs in the eighth came on nine hits.

Jace Yancey pitched six innings for the Rexburg-based team and was relieved in the seventh by Tyson Perkes when the Allies got runners on first and second.

Upper Valley, the youngest team in the tourney, played flawless ball and turned three double plays, two to end innings.

For the Allies, it was a different story.

"We saved one of our worst games for one of our last games," Turrell said.

Gems 11, Cardinals 0

The Cardinals sent their ace Darren Jenks (8-4) up against the tourney favorite Gems, but it was Boise pitcher Ben Sheppard who was the gem of the game.

Sheppard (9-1) allowed just five hits, struck out four and walked just two in shutting out the Prairie. Only three Cardinals runners advanced past first base and only one made it as far as third.

"Their pitcher threw a great game," said Prairie coach Darren Taylor. "He made us look like we didn't knew what we were doing out there."

Boise scored five runs in the first inning and six more in the eighth.

"We came out flat, and we can't do that," Taylor said.

Derek Fulton had two hits for Prairie, one in the third when the Cardinals loaded the bases on two hits, a fielder's choice and a walk but failed to score.

Other Prairie hits came from Jake Adams, Chase Williams and Craig Craviotto.

The five runs in the first inning were big, according to Gems coach Larry Price.

"With the jitters gone, we were able to come out and relax and play the game and have fun," he said. Prairie committed four errors in the game, and Boise roughed up Jenks for 11 hits, two each by Ryan Keller, Ryan Cantlon, Ben Newt on and John Singleton.

Taylor is looking forward to another matchup with co-league rival Coeur d'Alene.

"This is a good chance for us to get another crack at them," he said. The other teams in the tournament are the Caldwell Silver Streaks, the Twin Falls Cowboys, the Pocatello Runnin' Rebels and host Lewis-Clark Twins. Four games are played daily with the championship to be decided on Tuesday.

Upper Valley 10, Alliance Title 0

Allies 000 000 00 - 0 6 2

Bulldogs 000 101 08 - 10 14 0

Pitching: Allies--Gosch (7), B. Gore and A. Gore. Bulldogs-- Yancey (6) Perkes and Schlegelmilch Hits: Allies- -Crain, Keefer, B. Gore, Holland, Wilson 2. 2B--Crain. Bulldogs--Walker, Kunz, Thornock 3, Schlegelmilch 4, Bramble 2, Pena, Perkes, Wa tts. 2B-- Walker, Thornock, Schlegelmilch.

Boise 11, Prairie 0

Gems - 500 000 06 11 11 1

Cardinals 000 000 00 0 5 4

Pitching: Gems--Sheppard and Singleton Cardinals--Jenks and McMillen Hits: Gems--Keller 2, Sheppard, Puckett, Cantlon 2, Newton 2, Horvath, Singleto n 2. 2B--Keller 3B--Horvath Cardinals--Felton 2, Williams, Craviotto, Adams

Copyright 1999 Cowles Publishing Company
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