The Post Falls Trojans (9-3) swept the Lakeland Hawks (6-7) baseball team on April 16. They lost the first game 12-8 and the second one 8-0.
In the opener, the Trojans got five runs on the board in the first inning. The Hawks did not let them get too far of a lead and added two runs of their own in the bottom half.
The Trojans continued to add to their lead by getting four more runs in the second inning, while the Hawks only scored one.
The Trojans got three more in the third inning while the Hawks remained at four runs.
Jake Jovick entered the game as a pitcher in the third inning, and shut the Trojans out for the remainder of the game, throwing 4.1 scoreless innings.
“It showed that my defense is behind me and it feels good as a pitcher that I can trust the defense behind me,” Jovick said. “My middle infield was able to roll a couple of double plays. I just have to have confidence that I’m the best in the world and attack the batters. This shows I can compete at this level, which feels great.”
The Hawks gained another five runs, finishing with eight.
It was a challenging game, but the Hawks had one of their best offensive games of the season.
“We need to come out swinging in the beginning, but it got the bats warmed up to play against Sandpoint and their type of pitching,” Tadhg Ellwood said. “I think the fact that we have a lot of pitchers means we do not need to waste better arms on games that are not district games, and our other pitchers were able to step up.”
The second game started when the Trojans only scored one run in the first inning, three in the second and four in the fourth, all while keeping the Hawks at zero.
In the third inning, Jake Larcher pitched his first varsity game and had his first shutout inning.
The Hawks play next April 18, against Sandpoint High School at home.
Playing for a cause
During the warm-ups, the Lakeland Hawks wore shirts, designed by Wendes Customcrafts, showing support for eleven-year-old Zoey battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Zoey has two older brothers, Raiston and Tadhg Ellwood on the Lakeland Hawks baseball team.
“I think that the team supporting my sister really shows that we are a family, and it shows that we care about each other. It truly highlights the we are one motto of the Lakeland Hawks,” Tadhg Ellwood said.
The GoFundMe for Zoey Jane is:
