The Camas Prairie Zephyrs American Legion baseball team’s season came to an end this past weekend at the Single A District Tournament at Moscow.
On Thursday, July 18, they lost to the Coeur d’Alene Lumberjacks 9-14. On Friday, July 19 they played the Prairie Cardinals of Post Falls and pulled out a 5-4 win in extra innings. Finally, later on Friday, July 19, they were eliminated by the Northern Lakes Mountaineers of Rathdrum 5-15.
It was the third straight loss to the Lumberjacks who had swept the Zephyrs in the regular season doubleheader finale.
The Zephyrs took a first inning lead as Ray Holes was hit by a pitch leading off. Two ground outs advanced him to third and he scored when Eli Hinds reached on an error.
The Lumberjacks tied it in the bottom of the first on a single and a double off of starting pitcher JT Jackson.
The Zephyrs scored 2 in the second as Tavan Ebert led off with a single to right and Noah Behler followed with a double to right. Ebert scored on a single to left by Thayn Williams. Chris Schumacher walked and Behler scored on a squeeze bunt by Collin Ray to make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the second the Lumberjacks put together 3 straight singles after a leadoff out. After a strikeout, a single scored 2 runs to tie the game.
In the third Hinds had a 1-out single but was unable to score.
A walk, groundout and an error led to a Lumberjack run in the third as they took their first lead.
In the fourth the Zephyrs put together a 6-run rally. After an out, Schumacher and Ray both walked. A single to left by Holes scored Schumacher to tie the game. An infield single by Levi McElroy then gave the Zephyrs a 5-4 lead. A single by Jackson loaded the bases. Hinds reached on an error with both McElroy and Holes scoring to make it 7-4. Ebert doubled to right to scored both Jackson and Hinds for a 9-4 lead.
Coeur d’Alene came back with 4 in the bottom of the fourth to pull within 1. A double, triple and walk started the inning. After an out, a sacrifice fly cut the lead to 9-6. Another triple made it 9-7 and a single made it 9-8.
The Zephyrs had just 1 baserunner in the fifth, a 1-out walk by Ray.
The Lumberjacks tied it in the bottom of the fifth with a 2-out single followed by a double.
In the sixth Ebert had a 2-out single but was then caught stealing to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth the Lumberjacks took the lead for good. A leadoff homer gave them the lead. They then added 4 more runs on a single, sacrifice fly, single, error, triple and another single.
In the seventh the Zephyrs got 1-out walks by Williams and Josh Gardner. However a strikeout and a ground out ended the game.
Jackson pitched 5 2/3 inings and allowed 12 runs on 16 hits with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks. Williams came in to get the final out in the sixth but gave up 2 hits and hit a batter which led to 2 runs.
The Zephyrs had 9 hits led by Ebert who had a double and 2 singles and 2 RBI. Hinds had a single and 2 RBI. Holes, McElroy and Williams each had a single and an RBI. Jackson and Behler each had a single and Ray had an RBI.
Zephyrs 1 2 0 6 0 0 0—  9   9 3
C’dA    1 2 1 4 1 5 x—14 18 2
In the game against the Cardinals from Post Falls, neither team scored in the first 2 innings. In fact each team had just 1 baserunner in the first 2 innings. Behler started on the mound for the Zephyrs and gave up a 1-out single in the second inning while Behler had a 2-out walk in the bottom of the second.
An error and a single in the third inning gave the Cardinals a 0-1 lead.
In the bottom of the third McElroy led off with a walk and after an out, stole second. Holes singled with McElroy going to third. Holes stole second and then Ray laid down another squeeze bunt which scored McElroy and sent Holes to third. Holes scored on a double to right by Jackson to give the Zephyrs a 2-1 lead.
Behler worked around a 1-out error in the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth Ebert led off with a walk and Behler followed with a  single to left. On a double steal, Ebert was put out at third and two strikeouts then ended the inning.
Behler allowed no runners in the fifth.
The Zephyrs got a 1-out single by Holes and Ray reached on an error but a strikeout and a caught stealing ended the inning.
Behler worked around a 1-out error in the sixth but got out of the inning on a pair of ground balls.
After there were 2 outs in the bottom of the sixth, Behler and Williams both singled and McElroy walked to load the bases. Behler scored on a wild pitch for a 3-1 lead.
The Cardinals got to Behler for 2 runs to tie the game in the seventh. 2 singles, a double and a groundout led to the tying runs.
The Zephyrs went down in order in the bottom of the inning to send the game to extra innings.
A leadoff double, groundout and sacrifice fly gave the Cardinals a lead. McElroy then went in to pitch as Behler hit the pitch limit. After a walk he recorded a strikeout to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the eighth Jackson led off with a single to right but was erased on a double play. Ebert walked and Behler was hit by a pitch. Williams then got the game winning hit with a triple to center that scored both baserunners for a 5-4 win.
Behler pitched 7 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk. McElroy pitched just a third of an inning and picked up the win as he gave up no runs with 1 strikeout and 1 walk.
The Zephyrs had 8 hits led by Williams with a triple and a single and 2 RBI. Jackson had a double and a single and 1 RBI. Behler and Holes each had a pair of singles. Ray had an RBI.
Cardinals 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1—4 6 1
Zephyrs   0 0 2 0 0 1 0 2—5 8 3
The Zephyrs outhit Northern Lakes 11-8 but 7 errors and 8 free passes hurt them.
The Zephyrs got a 1-out single to center by Ray in the top of the first but he was left stranded at first.
McElroy started on the mound for the Zephyrs and got 2 quick outs in the bottom of the first. However 3 walks and 2 errors led to 3 runs.
Behler led off the second inning with single to right  and Gardner reached on a 2-out error. However they were stranded as the third out was made on a ground ball.
The Moutaineers started the bottom of the second with 2 walks and an error. After a groundout, 2 hit batsmen scored another run. Another error scored 2 more runs. Brown then went in to pitch and a fielder’s choice scored another run. An error, single and another error, a single and another error added 4 more runs as the Mountaineers took a 0-12 lead.
The Zephyrs got on the scoreboard in the third inning. Ray walked with 1 out and scored on a double to right by Hinds. Ebert singled and then Behler singled to center to score Hinds. Williams single to left to score Ebert and make it 3-12. A caught stealing was followed by McElroy getting hit by a pitch. A single by Gardner scored Williams to make it 4-12.
Northern Lakes responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning. A single, walk and a double scored 2 runs for a 4-14 lead.
In the fourth Holes led off with a double to left and scored on a 1-out single to left by Hinds that made it 5-14.
Three straight singles gave Northern Lakes another run in the bottom of the fourth.
The Zephyrs started the fifth with an infield single toward third by Williams and McElroy reached on an error. A double play grounder to short and a ground out to second then ended the Zephyrs season.
McElroy pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed 8 runs on no hits with 5 walks and 2 hit batsmen. Only 2 of those runs were earned. Brown pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed 7 runs, only 3 earned, on 8 hits with 1 walk.
The Zephyrs had 11 hits led by Hinds whoe had a double and a single and 2 RBI. Behler and Williams each had 2 singles and 1 RBI. Holes had a double. Gardner had a single and an RBI. Ray, Evert and Brown each had a single.
The Zephyrs end their season with a record of 13-19-1.
Zephyrs             0 0 4 1 0—  5 11 7
Northern Lakes 3 9 2 1 x—15   8 2