Twins take down Lumbermen for AA district crown

Baldwin works seven innings on mound to lead L-C to 4-2 win

POST FALLS - Early offense and dominant pitching carried the Lewis-Clark Twins baseball team to a 4-2 win in the Legion AA district championship against Coeur d'Alene on Friday.

Wyatt Baldwin toed the rubber for seven strong innings, holding the Lumbermen to four hits to help the Twins claim the district crown and bragging rights in the region.

"When you get to the title game, you're not always going to have that explosive offense, so you have to rely on everybody," Lewis-Clark coach Kevin Maurer said.

Baldwin's performance was a stark contrast to his previous outing against Coeur d'Alene, when he surrendered 12 hits in four innings of work.

"He's the type of player who showed he can erase a game and go out there," Maurer said. "He shoved for seven strong innings and only got into trouble twice ... but he managed to get himself out of it. He was just dialed in from the get go."

Alex Light helped the Twins find the scoreboard in the opening inning, using his speed on the base paths to score on a passed ball. Ryder Shoults followed with a sacrifice fly in the second to give Lewis-Clark a 2-0 lead.

"When the offense isn't lighting up the scoreboard, you need to have a pitcher who is lights out early," Maurer said of Baldwin's outing.

The Twins entered the ninth with a 4-0 lead, but the Lumbermen plated a pair of runs when two ground balls took unexpected hops in the infield.

"When Nate Savolainen came in, he did nothing but throw strikes," Maurer said. "He could have been out of there a lot earlier, but the ball just didn't bounce his way."

Savolainen escaped the jam with consecutive flyouts to end the game.

The victory gives the Twins a berth in the state tournament, which begins Wednesday in Post Falls. Lewis-Clark opens the competition with a 4:30 p.m. game, with the opponent yet to be determined.

"We're not finished," Maurer said. "We knew coming into Districts that we had to keep the momentum we had from the regular season and carry it on. You have to be hot in the postseason, so we want to be ready to go when we step on the field at State."

Coeur d'Alene 000 000 002-2 7 1

Lewis-Clark 110 110 00x-4 9 1

Brady Thompson, Brett Keefe (8) and Conner Conigliaro. Wyatt Baldwin, Cooper Lund (8), Nate Savolainen (9) and Jackson Fuller.

Coeur d'Alene hits - Bennett Cunningham, Levi Haen, Brett Stapleton, Matt Gjevre 2 (2B), Riley Alley (2B), Brett Keefe.

Lewis-Clark hits - Alex Light, Jaden Phillips 3 (2B), Chase Adkison 2, Danny Robinson 2, Ryder Shoults.