A 14-2 opening-round mercy-rule blitz against St. Maries and a 5-3 upset of the second-seeded North Idaho Lakers on Thursday at Harris Field earned the Lewis-Clark Cubs a berth to the winners bracket final of the Class A American Legion baseball district tournament.

A dozen-run fourth inning propelled the Cubs (24-12) to their early finish against the Savages. An RBI single by Wiley Wagner opened the floodgates for L-C, which benefited from six St. Maries fielding errors on the day. Lance Bambacigno put up six strikeouts in four innings pitched to earn the win.

Against the Lakers, it was the bottom of the fifth inning that proved decisive as the Cubs climbed ahead courtesy of RBI singles from Trace Green and Toby Elliott. L-C reliever Guy Krasselt held North Idaho scoreless for the final two innings to pick up the win.

The Cubs, who now have won eight consecutive games and nine of 10 overall, face the top-seeded Northern Lakes Mountaineers at 4 p.m. today for a berth in the championship game, which takes place at 4 p.m. Saturday.

St. Maries 200 00— 2 4 6

LC Cubs 101 (12)x—14 8 1

Brock Anderson, Riley Abel (4) and Ty Olson; Mason Way, Lance Bambacigno (2) and Wiley Wagner. W—Bambacigno. L—Abel.

St. Maries hits — Anderson 2 (2B), Kade Crawford, Jackson Nantel.

LC Cubs hits — Wagner 2, Guy Krasselt 2, Toby Elliott (2B), Jackson Slagg, Trace Green, Clayten Jenkins-Hix.

———

North Idaho 001 020 0—3 7 4

LC Cubs 101 030 x—5 7 5

A. Leverich and T. Brackett; Toby Elliott, Guy Krasselt (5) and Race Currin. W—Krasselt. L—Brackett.

North Idaho hits — Zeke Roop (2B), Finn Mellander, Mick Koch, A. Leverich, C. Garcia, E. Butler, Z. Leverich.

LC Cubs hits — Trace Green 2, Elliott, Jackson Slagg, Trace Roberts, Tucker Green, Krasselt.

Mixed bag for Merchants

The Orofino Merchants made a dramatic seventh-inning rally to defeat the Camas Prairie Zephyrs of Grangeville 8-7 in the first round of the Class A American Legion district tournament at Harris Field, only to suffer a 14-0 rout against the Northern Lakes Mountaineers later in the day.

Orofino (10-12-1) allowed the first four runs of its game against Camas Prairie (8-10) and trailed 7-3 going into the final inning, but found the winning spark at the last possible moment, with a two-out walkoff single by Drew Hanna clinching the come-from-behind victory. Hanna also pitched the final five innings with four strikeouts to pick up the win from the mound. Cody Klement led the Zephyrs at bat with two hits.

Against the Mountaineers, Jon Wicks managed the lone Orofino hit as the Merchants failed to get on the board.

The Zephyrs take on North Idaho at 10 a.m. today while the Merchants face St. Maries at 1 p.m. in elimination games.

Camas Prairie 130 012 0—7 8 4

Orofino 000 300 5—8 5 2

Sam Lindsley, Blake Schoo (2) and David Goicoa; Trebor Altman, Drew Hanna (3) and Nate Guinard. W—Hanna. L—Schoo.

Camas Prairie hits — Cody Klement 2, Carter Shears, Schoo, Colton McElroy, Ryan Lockart, James Aragon, Lindsley.

Orofino hits — Easton Schneider, Guinard, Steve Bradbury, Hanna, Anthony Fabbi.

———

Orofino 000 00— 0 1 1

Northern Lakes 156 2x—14 13 0

Landon Schlieper, Steve Bradbury (3), Edward Harrison (4) and Nate Guinard; Wysong and Pemberton. W—Wysong. L—Bradbury.

Orofino hit — Jon Wicks.

Northern Lakes hits — Pote 3, Wysong 2, Robinett 2, Kitchin 2, Horn (2B), Hessing (2B), Wells, Sheppard.

TRACK AND FIELDWSU athletes earn academic recognition

NEW ORLEANS — A total of 14 athletes from the Washington State track and field program earned All-Academic honors from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, it was announced.

Antonia Buschendorf, Jasneet Nijjar, Aislinn Overby, Pia Richards, Anna Rodgers, Peyton Teevens, Elise Unruh-Thomas and Skyler Walton were women’s honorees. Jacob Englar, Sam Griffith, Colton Johnsen, John Kolb, Jared McAlvey, and Zach Stallings represented the men.

The two programs also were recognized with the All-Academic team award as the men’s team finished the spring semester with a collective 3.14 cumulative grade-point average, and the women’s program had a combined 3.42 cumulative GPA.

COLLEGE BASEBALLCrabaugh service set for July 30

OKLAHOMA CITY — A service memorializing longtime Oklahoma City University baseball coach Denney Crabaugh has been set for 1 p.m. July 30 at the Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel on the school’s campus.

Crabaugh died Wednesday after a prolonged battle with cancer. Crabaugh spent the previous 34 years as the Stars’ coach.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Denney Crabaugh Endowment for OCU Baseball. The endowment is invested permanently to benefit the OCU baseball program and provide funds to fulfill the team’s needs from to equipment to scholarships to travel expenses. Gifts in memory of Crabaugh can be made to okcu.edu/onlinegiving/athletics/baseball or via check, made out to OCU with Crabaugh in the memo line, and sent to: OCU Baseball, P.O. Box 2780, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73101.

For information on the endowment, contact Chris Maxon at (405) 208-5660 or camaxon@okcu.edu.