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Pirates win Districty title
With a pair of come-from-behind victories the Prairie Lady Pirates won their fourth straight District Championship at Lewiston Thursday and Friday, May 9-10. On Thursday they defeated Troy 5-4 and on Friday they defeated Genesee 6-3.  in
the opening round at District.
Troy took the early lead with a run in the first as a single, walk, and a single started the game for the Trojans. Pitcher Leah Holthaus was able to minimize the damage as she induced a pop-up to second baseman Danly, a foul pop-up that catcher Sky Wilson and a grounder to third for a forceout to get out of the inning. 2 errors and 2 singles led to 2 more runs for Troy in the second inning as they took a 0-3 lead. Meanwhile, after a 1-2-3 first, Prairie loaded the bases with nobody out in the second inning on back-to-back singles by Taylor Nuxoll and Kendall Schumacher and a walk by Mackenzie Rieman. Prairie was unable to score though as 2 strikeouts and a groundout to short ended the inning. Prairie broke through in the third though thanks to a couple of Troy errors along with 3 singles and a walk. Danly singled with 1-out, moved to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a groundout by Tanna Schlader that the Prairie coaches thought should have been a catcher’s interference. The out stood though and Prairie had to come up with a 2-out rally. Nuxoll walked and Schumacher singled to left to score Danly. Rieman then hit a grounder to third that was bobbled for an error as Nuxoll scored. Holthaus then beat out a bunt single that scored Schumacher with the tying run. After struggling the first two inning, Holthaus had settled down in the third and fourth but ran into trouble in the fifth. Consecutive errors and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out for Troy. The next batter hit a ground ball to Rieman at third who threw home for the forceout. The next hitter flew out to Nuxoll in short left field and Nuxoll’s throw to the plate kept the runner on third. Prairie then got out of the inning with another flyball out, this one to Kelsey Tidwell in center. Prairie took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Schlader walked to lead off the inning and Nuxoll followed with a single to left. After an out, Rieman hit a grounder to second for a forceout as Schlader scored the go-ahead run. Troy managed to tie it in the top of the sixth after a leadoff single and a successful sacrifice bunt. The runner on second then attempted to go to third and the base umpire appeared to call her out at third. He then reversed himself and said he had called her safe, which appeared to be the correct call. She then scored on a groundout to first to make it 4-4. Schumacher may have had a play at the plate but took the sure out. In the bottom of the sixth Tidwell reached on a rare error by Troy’s shortstop. Wilson moved Tidwell to second with a sacrifice bunt that she nearly beat out for a hit. Danly then hit the first pitch she saw in her at bat to the gap in right center. Tidwell scored easily and as Danly reached third, she stumbled over the bag as she tried to stop and was tagged out before she could get back to the base. Troy attempted to rally in the top of the seventh with a 1-out single bracketed by a pair of fly ball outs to Tidwell in center. A walk moved the tying run to second and put the go-ahead run on at first but the next batter hit the ball right back to Holthaus who easily threw her out at first to end the game. Prairie had 7 hits in the game as Danly had a triple and a single and an RBI. Schumacher had 2 singles and an RBI. Nuxoll also had 2 singles and Holthaus had an RBI bunt single. Holthaus gave up 7 hits, all singles, with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. In fact Danly’s triple was the only extra-base hit in the game. Troy 1 2 0 0 0 1 0—4 7 2 Prairie 0 0 3 0 1 1 x—5 7 4  Prairie
had their first lead of the season against Genesee with a 2-run first inning.
Wilson led off with a walk but was caught stealing. Danly followed with a 4-pitch walk. Schlader then doubled to right center with Danly going to third. Danly had to hold up as there was a chance the ball might have been caught. Nuxoll then singled home both runners for a 2-0 Prairie lead. Genesee bounced back with a run in the bottom of the first on a walk with the batter advancing to third on a pair of pitches that got past the catcher. She then scored on a sacrifice fly. In the second Genesee tied it with 3 singles. Genesee took the lead in the third with an infield single, sacrifice and another single. That would be the final run for the Bulldogs who would put runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth but nobody made it past second thanks to the Prairie defense. Prairie had opportunities to score in the second, third and fourth innings but couldn’t get the key hit to get the runners home. They kept pounding the ball to the infielders for forceouts at second. In the fifth they got a big break with a couple of errors. Wilson led off by reaching on a throwing error by the third baseman, who had played stellar defense to that point. Danly then blooped a single to short right field. Schlader grounded a ball back to the pitcher but she couldn’t find the handle on the ball and the bases were load. After a strikeout, Schumacher drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game as Wilson scored. Rieman then drew another bases loaded walk to put Prairie ahead 4-3. At that point Genesee changed pitchers and Holthaus greeted her with a bunt single that saw Schlader scoring from third. Amanda Dinning followed with a bloop hit over third that scored Schumacher to make the score 6-3. Prairie had a chance to add on in the sixth as Wilson and Danly each singled to start the inning. A grounder to third forced Wilson and a couple of fly balls got Genesee out of the jam. Meanwhile Holthaus gave up just 2 baserunners over the final 3 innings. She got the third out on a pop-up after a 2-out single in the fifth. After a leadoff walk in the sixth Schlader snagged a line drive at shortstop and with a better throw would’ve doubled the runner off first. The next two hitters both flew out to Nuxoll in left field. In the seventh she got the side out in order to end the game. Prairie had 11 hits in the game with Dinning collecting 3 singles and an RBI. Danly and Wilson had 2 singles each while Schlader had a double. Nuxoll had a single and 2 RBI. Schumacher and Holthaus each had a single and 1 RBI. Holthaus allowed 8 hits, all singles, with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Prairie takes a 15-4 record into the State Tournament which starts this Friday at noon at Airport Park in Lewiston against Greenleaf. Genesee beat Troy in the second place game and will play Horseshoe Bend, also at noon Friday. Prairie 2 0 0 0 4 0 0—7 11 0 Genesee 1 1 1 0 0 0 0—3 8 3
Lady Pirates to play Greenleaf in state opener The 1-A state softball tournament is set for this Friday and Saturday, May 17-18, at Airport Park in Lewiston. Prairie will play Greenleaf and Genesee will play Horseshoe Bend at noon. The Greenleaf matchup will be a rematch of last year's state title game. Second round games are set for 3 p.m. with the first round losers on one field and the first round winners on another. The loser of the winner’s bracket game will play the loser-out survivor at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of that game will play the tournament’s unbeaten team at noon in what could be the state championship game, if the winner’s bracket team should win. If the loser’s bracket survivor wins there will be a second, winner-take-all, championship game at 2 p.m. 
The Lady Pirates with the District Trophy proclaiming “We’re #1.” In front is Sky Wilson. Kneeling from left are Cheryl Gehring, Jessica Kaschmitter, Ashley Cannon, Kelsey Tidwell, Kellie Heitman, Natasha Gimmeson, Hailey Danly, Sarah Seubert, Amanda Dinning, Krista Hess and Mackenzie Rieman. Standing from left are coach Steve Wilson, Holli Uhlorn, Taylor Nuxoll, Tanna Schlader, Leah Holthaus, Kendall Schumacher, Brooke Schumacher, Marina Evans, Amanda Kaschmitter, Emily McHugh, Abbie Uhlenkott, manager Faith Uhlenkott and head coach Jeff Martin. March 16-vs. Kellogg (2) (@ Lewiston) Airport #2), 12 noon, lost 2-5, won 7-6 19-Orofino, there, 4 p.m., won 10-2 22-vs. Genesee (@Lewiston), 5 p.m., lost 2-9 16-CV, here, 4 p.m. (1+1), won 27-0 18-Troy, here, 4 p.m. (1+1), won 10-8 25-Potlatch (@Lewiston) Airport #2, 4:30 p.m. (2), won 13-3, won 14-5 26-Genesee, here, 5 p.m., lost 8-11 29-Orofino, here, 4 p.m. (1+1), lost 4-12 30-at Asotin, 4 p.m., won 3-2 6-Lewiston JV, there, 4 p.m. (2), rescheduled from April 19-Cancelled due to Senior Projects presentations 9-Districts (@Lewiston), Games 1 & 2, 5:30 p.m. - defeated Troy 5-4 10-Districts (@Lewiston), Games 3 & 4, 5:30 p.m., 2nd place game, 7 p.m., defeated Genesee 6-3-District Champions 17 & 18-State (@Lewiston), Games 1 & 2, 12 noon (Prairie vs. Greenleaf and Genesee vs. Horseshoe Bend); Games 3 & 4, 3 p.m.; Game 5 at 10 a.m. Saturday; Game 6 at 12 noon; Game 7 (if necessary), 2 p.m. |
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