Post Falls sweeps Lake City behind O'Connor's dominant doubleheader

Post Falls turned a rivalry doubleheader into a league statement, sweeping Lake City twice in four days and moving to 5-2 in 6A Inland Empire League play after the April 15 games at Lake City High School. The Trojans are 7-8 overall, and the back-to-back wins have them looking more settled in the race for district and state positioning.

Michael O'Connor set the tone in the first swing of the series at Post Falls High School on April 12. The senior struck out 11 in the opener, then came back in the nightcap with three hits and two RBIs as Post Falls won 3-1 and 10-6. The Trojans had six hits in the first game and 15 in the second, while Lake City managed just one hit in the opener and eight in the nightcap. Kurt Reese said he wanted O'Connor's endurance built up and said it was good to see the senior go deep when the Trojans needed it. Junior Marshall Tomlinson added a breakout line of three hits and four RBIs in the second game.

The second sweep came three days later at Lake City High School and showed the first was no fluke. In the opener, Tomlinson singled to score Beckett Beyer with two outs in the seventh inning for the winning run in a 4-2 victory. The nightcap was more lopsided, with Bryce Berger driving in three runs and scoring twice in a 16-6 win. After that pair, Reese said, "It seems like we're starting to figure things out a little bit."

For Lake City, the losses were costly. The Timberwolves fell to 4-12 overall and 0-4 in league play after the April 15 sweep, and coach Gil Pierce said after the first set that his team was not aggressive enough at the plate in the opener and needed more consistent hitting across the lineup. That offensive frustration was a sharp contrast to Post Falls, where O'Connor, Tomlinson and Berger supplied the timely outs and runs that can change a league season in a matter of days.