Royals fail to advance to regionals

The district champion Royals' 2003 season ended on the well-manicured turf at Lewis and Clark's baseball field Sunday.

The Royals lost a set of 4-3 games to North Idaho teams.

The Thursday 4-3 loss to Sandpoint put the Royals in the losers bracket at the state tournament where they would have to win six in a row to advance to the regional championship in Spokane.

The second 4-3 loss Friday eliminated them from further tournament play.

In the opener Thursday, Sandpoint got their first two runners on base via a hit batter and a walk. Both scored. The Sandpoint leadoff hitter in the second inning also scored, putting the Royals behind by three runs.

An RBI double by Jimmy Hendershot and a two-run single by Brian Fields tied the game in the fourth. After a double play got the first two Sandpoint batters in the 7th inning, two walks and two singles produced the winning run for the Lakers.

Friday, in the 4-3 loss to Couer 'd Alene, the Royals, down by two runs, got four base runners but could score only one as they hit three line drives right at Couer 'd Alene outfielders, thus ending the game with the winning run on second base.

Jason Simons did not walk or hit a batter but 11 hits and two Royals errors produced four runs that the Royals could not match. Scott Arellano, Daniel Kaiser and Andrew Grodi each had two hits but those were the only six hits that the Royals could manage.

Soapy Walborn, the Royals coach, while disappointed with the Royals' early exit from the state tournament, is proud of the Royals' play.

"In the district tournament, our winning six out of seven against tough competition in four days took a lot out of us emotionally and physically. We were just not quite as alert and our hitting was not quite as crisp as it usually is. We played with a lot of class and a lot of character in both games.

"Jason Simons was superb in the second game which was our only game in the 46 we played this year that our pitchers did not walk or hit a batter. We made two very costly errors that cost us three runs. Jason only allowed one earned run, and this was after throwing complete game wins Thursday and Saturday and the final two innings of the district championship game Sunday.

"Jason was our biggest winner this year with 10 wins," Walborn said.

"Drew Cauffman, Brian Turcotte, Josh Good and Jimmy Hendershot played great and provided superb leadership all year long. All four will be playing college baseball next year.

"Russ Fields again was a year-long stabilizing force and focal point encouraging our players to higher levels of achievement.

"Alvin Lee Powers is truly a blessing to me, the Royals and the town. He is surely the best field announcer and play by play announcer on the radio anywhere in the towns of this nation. For 16 years he has been a great friend and supporter of me, the Royals and all youth athletic activity in the area."

The Royals will return two team captains next year, Drew Cauffman, and Brian Turcotte, along with Jason Simons, Scott Arellano, Daniel Kaiser, Brian Fields, David Wise, Aaron Swartz, Andrew Grodi and Bret Young.