L-C's lineup answers the bell in 12-7 victory over Coeur d'Alene, earning Twins a 2-for-1 shot at district championship

Chandler Tibbits has 6 hits in 2 games

After yet another offensive showcase from Chandler Tibbits, Lewis-Clark Twins teammate Josh Moore joked that there probably is no catching Tibbits, at least in the hits column, at the Class AA northern Idaho district tournament.

Granted, it's a race he's happy to lose, considering both have the same cause in mind.

"I'm trying to keep up with him," Moore said, "but he's doing extremely well."

Tibbits added three hits to his tally - which now sits at six through two games - and Moore, the proud owner of another column, cranked his second home run out of Harris Field as the Twins moved one step closer to a district title, and clinched a state tournament berth, by virtue of their 12-7 victory over the Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen.

Coeur d'Alene and Prairie of Post Falls will meet in a loser-out game today at 1 with the winner moving on to face the Twins at 3:30. L-C has a two-for-one shot at the district title and would play again on Sunday with a loss today.

But for that to happen, the rest of the field will either need to match or slow the offensive juggernaut that's now produced 47 runs in two days. Thursday, L-C plowed its way to a 35-2 victory over Prairie in the tournament opener.

"This team's done a pretty good job this summer, they don't like to lose," said L-C coach Kyle Blackwell, whose club improved to 34-9 with Friday's result. "That's what's more important to me I want the guys who really hate to lose. You truly hate to lose."

The Twins have only trailed twice in this tournament - 1-0 in the first inning of Thursday's game and 7-6 after 61/2 frames Friday - but in each instance, they've responded with four-run innings to take the lead for good.

Not much of a surprise for a team that regularly talks about an objective to score runs in every inning. They've done it in 12 of 14 innings thus far.

"Number one, scoring in every inning," Blackwell said, "and number two, scoring when the pressure's on and when we're down."

The only instance of that came in the seventh when the Lumbermen chased Twins reliever Mikel Jensen, who walked two batters and gave up two hits after a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth.

Logan Chase relieved Jensen to record the third out of the inning and the L-C offense took care of the rest. Moore wore a fastball on his shoulder to begin the bottom of the seventh, then watched Jaden Phillips, Danny Robinson and Jackson Fuller single before coming around to score the tying run. The Twins would eventually clear the bases to take a 10-7 advantage into the eighth.

Chase made quick work of the Lumbermen in the top of the eighth and Moore highlighted the bottom of the inning with his two-run shot to left field. The ball barely cleared the fence, connecting with a KLEW billboard before falling on to the warning track.

Not until he paused at second, thinking he'd pocketed a stand-up double, did Moore realize he hit it over.

"I was kind of surprised when my coach said, 'Hey, it went out,' " Moore said. "I was like, 'Oh OK, that's a done deal.' "

Moore's blast Thursday against Prairie was the first of his Legion season. He credits the sudden power surge to advice from his coaches - "just telling me to swing the hips" - and hours spent alone in the batting cage.

Tibbits, who homered and tripled on Thursday to go with two singles, recorded another triple and two singles against Coeur d'Alene.

He downplayed the concept of a hot streak and amounted his offensive contributions to "just seeing the baseball."

Tibbits added: "Not being too high, not being too low."

Eight L-C players had hits Friday, which was two down from Thursday, when 10 Twins made their way into the hit column.

Coeur d'Alene 000 210 400- 7 8 2

Lewis-Clark Twins 212 100 42x-12 14 1

Daniel Gunnerson, Nate Phillips (7), Jarred Hall (7) and Reegan Jacobson. Julian Washburn, Mikel Jensen (6), Logan Chase (7) and Jackson Fuller.

Coeur d'Alene hits - Jacobson 2, Tanner Criswell 2, Brandon Stott, Hall 3 (2B), Phillips.

Lewis-Clark hits - Chandler Tibbits 3 (3B), Josh Moore 2 (2B, HR), Luke White, Riley Way, Alex Light 2, Jaden Phillips, Danny Robinson, Fuller 2.