SportsJuly 22, 2000

COEUR D'ALENE -- Nate Martin continued his summertime home-run binge, swatting two bombs to help the Lewis-Clark Twins cruise to an 11-0 victory over Trail, British Columbia, in the first round of the north Idaho district American Legion baseball tournament Friday.

The Twins, the tournament's top seed, will play today at 4 p.m., facing the winner of the Coeur d'Alene-Post Falls contest. L-C would earn a spot in the district title game with a victory today.

The Twins jumped ahead almost immediately as Jason Clovis singled and Martin homered to begin the first inning.

Martin added a second smash, a solo blast in the sixth, to give him six homers on the year. And this from a guy who had just one long ball the entire high school season.

"He was struggling a bit during the school year. He was watching (pitches) a bit too much," L-C coach Kevin Matthews said of Martin. "But he's been working hard on keeping his weight on his back foot, and he really started hitting about the time of the Boise (Wooden Bat) tourney."

Even with Martin's early homer, L-C held just a 2-0 lead at the beginning of the fifth. But the Twins exploded for four runs in that inning as Jason Clovis, Neil Litchfield, Ryan Clark and Dustin Zager all came up with run-scoring hits.

The Twins then piled up five runs in the sixth frame to invoke the 10-run rule.

L-C pitcher John Steinwand hardly needed this much support as he limited Trail to four hits. He also recorded seven strikeouts and two walks.

Steinwand got stronger as the game went on, allowing only one hit over the final four innings.

L-C also got three hits from Clovis and two hits apiece from six other players.

The Twins are unbeaten in their last 23 games and stand at 33-10-1. This blistering string has seen L-C perform well in all aspects, Matthews said.

"We just continue to play great defense, the pitching is excellent, and we're hitting ball," he said. "We're just going great."

Trail 000 000-- 0 4 3

Lewis-Clark Twins 200 045--11 16 2

Brad Ashman, Mike Vandermeer (6) and Lyle Weilep. John Steinwand and Darin McCall.

Trail hits -- Cody Hallaran, Garrett Vandermeer, Josh Adie, Brad Ashman.

Twins hits -- Jason Clovis 3 (2-2B), Nate Martin 2 (2-HR), Derek Bruce 2 (2B), Neil Litchfield 2 (2B), Ryan Clark, Dustin Zager 2, Darin McCall 2 (2B), Juluis Smith 2 (3B).

Cubs 15-11, Lewiston BR 14-1

Doug Craig, picking up a bat for the first time all day, laced a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Lewis-Clark Cubs at 15-14 victory over the Lewiston 15-year-old Babe Ruth team.

The Cubs collected a sweep with a much easier win in the second game, dropping LBR 11-1. Both games were at Harris Field.

In the opener, L-C was behind 8-0 at one point. But entering the bottom of the seventh, the Cubs had pulled to within 14-10.

After L-C tallied two runs, Craig came to bat with two men on base. Craig, the Cubs' regular catcher, had been sitting out this game, but was called upon when another player was injured. His walk-off homer didn't disappoint.

"We were just a lot more patient in those innings," L-C coach Marshall Evans said of the final two frames, in which his club tallied 11 runs.

The Cubs followed the pitching of David Church and Jesse Shaffer to victory in the second game. They permitted two hits while recording six strikeouts and three walks.

L-C moved to 24-12 overall. The Cubs will finish the regular season with a doubleheader at St. Maries on Monday.

FIRST GAME

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Lewiston Babe Ruth 512 002 4--14 13 5

Lewis-Clark Cubs 004 006 5--15 10 6

Chris Dowell, Tony Rhodes (6), Aaron Olson (6) and Mike Dufour, Joe Schmidt (4). Nate Mundell, Jake Rogers (3), Tyler Williams (7) and Jesse Shaffer.

Lewiston Babe Ruth hits -- Ben VonLindren, Ryan Marsh 2 (2B), Mike Dufour 2, Joe Schmidt 2, Adam Caulkins, Trent Hollingsworth 2 (2B), Tony Rhodes (2B), Scott Feale, Chris Dowell.

Cubs hits -- Matt Hawk (2B), Tyson Hollingsworth, Jake Rogers 2, Tyler Williams, David Judd 2 (2B), Josh Burton, David Church (2B), Doug Craig (HR).

SECOND GAME

Lewiston Babe Ruth 010 00-- 1 2 6

Lewis-Clark Cubs 041 06--11 11 1

Adam Caulkins, Aaron Olson (5) and Mike Dufour. David Church, Jesse Shaffer (4) and Doug Craig.

Lewiston Babe Ruth hits -- Aaron Olson, Joe Schmidt.

Cubs hits -- Matt Hawk, Josh Rogers 2 (2B), David Church, Jake Rogers, David Judd (2B), Doug Craig 2, Tyler Williams 2 (2B), Nate Mundell, Joe Cadwallader.

14 BABE RUTH

Lewiston 7, Minidoka 2

MOSCOW -- Lewiston leapt out to a six-run lead after the first inning and pitcher Jeremy Feucht held Minidoka in check as Lewiston collected a 7-2 victory in the 14-year-old Babe Ruth state tournament.

Feucht permitted seven hits while striking out eight. Lewiston also got two hits from Rico Picone and a two-out, three-run double from Nick Wallace during the first inning.

Lewiston will face either Meridian or Twin Falls today at 12:30 p.m.

Lewiston 600 100 0--7 8 6

Minidoka 100 010 0--2 7 1

11-12 SOFTBALL

East Boise 4, Lewiston NL 3

BOISE -- The Lewiston NL scored what appeared to be the tying run in the fifth inning, but the game was called on account of darkness and East Boise was awarded a 4-3 victory in the first game of the best-of-three Idaho state 11-12-year-old softball championship series.

Carla Schwartz came up with an RBI single in the top of the fifth, but umpires decided to void the inning and East Boise took the victory. Julie Andrews pitched a one-hit, eight-strikeout game for Lewiston.

These clubs will play again today at 12:30 p.m. PDT. If Lewiston wins, the deciding game will be at 9 a.m. PST on Sunday.

Lewiston NL 003 0--3 4 0

East Boise 211 0--4 1 1

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