An intense race for the first seed in the 4A IEL district tournament is in progress. 

The Lakeland Hawks(4-12, 3-3 4A IEL) traveled ninety minutes north to face off with league opponent, Moscow Bears(8-10, 3-3 4A IEL). The Bears won game one 11-5, and the Hawks won game two 10-9 behind eleven strikeouts on the mound from senior Cameron Harris. 

After the Bears and Hawks met earlier this season in Rathdrum on April 2 and the Bears completed a road sweep, the Hawks bounced back in the road doubleheader on April 29 and split the series. 

In the first game, the Hawks only had seven hits, and while Sean Tierney pitched 2.2 innings and allowed zero runs, the lack of baserunners came back to bite Lakeland when Moscow scored eleven runs in the final three innings. 

“The first game was rather rough but not terrible; small errors and free 90’s killed us,” Hawks senior shortstop and pitcher Payden Wysong said.

Wysong emphasized that the Hawks need to stop allowing free bases to opponents. 

In the second game, however, the offense had eleven hits while Cameron Harris pitched a stellar five innings, allowing just three earned runs and striking out eleven Moscow victims. 

“First came we came out pretty slow and couldn’t get a lot of bats going,” senior middle infielder, Sean Tierney, said. “In the second game, the momentum was shifted, and Cam absolutely shoved and got 11 K’s.” 

Lakeland had good offensive production in the doubleheader with Moscow, with six batters hitting multiple base knocks. 

Tanner Vandever led the Hawk’s offense on the day with four hits and two runs batted in. Raiston Ellwood also had good production at the plate with three hits and three runs batted in. 

When asked about the remaining schedule, Wysong said, “Lake City should be a good game, and I also think we can sweep Sandpoint again if we come out with energy. Timberlake has been on fire, but we’re looking to kill that streak”. 

If the season ended today, the Bears would hold the first seed in the district, the Hawks would hold the second seed, and the Bulldogs of Sandpoint would hold the third seed. 

However, with all three of these teams currently possessing a .500 winning percentage in league play and Sandpoint having an upcoming doubleheader with both of their league opponents, the final seeding is still to be determined.

Advertisements