The Prairie baseball team won 2 of their 3 games at the State Tournament at Orofino to earn the third place trophy. The tournament was held Friday May 21 and Saturday, May 22.
Prairie opened action on Friday with a 13-2 win over Glenns Ferry. Later on Friday they lost a tough one to Genesee 7-8. Genesee went on to win the tournament. On Saturday they had a wild game with Horseshoe Bend and wound up winning 11-10 in 8 innings.
In the opening game against Glenns Ferry coach Kyle Westhoff rolled the dice and started catcher Dalton Ross on the mound. Ross hadn’t pitched all season but did an outstanding job, pitching all 7 innings and allowing just 5 hits and 2 runs.
Chase Kaschmitter was pressed into catching duties, something he apparently hadn’t done since maybe Little League.
Reece Shears led off the top of the first with a double but was stranded on second.
Ross gave up a single and hit a better in the bottom of the first but got out of the inning with a strikeout.
Prairie got on the board in the second inning. Colton McElroy led off with a 4-pitch walk. Connor Schwartz grounded to third but an error put him on first and McElroy made it to third. Travis Alfrey reached on another error as McElroy scored. Brody Hasselstrom singled home Schwartz. Alfrey was forced at third by Lane Remacle for the first out. Shears walked to load the bases. Ross was hit by a pitch to force home Hasselstrom. Chase Kaschmitter then hit what looked to be a bases clearing double to right center but the centerfielder came up with a diving catch for the out. Remacle tagged up and scored from third but Ross was called out on the play for passing Shears on the bases to end the inning. Remacle’s run counted as it wasn’t a force play. That put Prairie up 4-0.
A baserunner reached with 2 outs in the bottom of the second on catcher’s interference but Ross got out of the inning with a groundout to first.
The Pirates added 3 more runs in the third inning. McElroy reached on a 1-out single to left. He went to second on a wild pitch and to third when Schwartz reached on an error. Alfrey walked to load the bases. Hasselstrom beat out an infield hit to score McElroy. Remacle walked to forced home Schwartz. Alfrey scored on a groundout by Shears to make it 7-0.
Ross gave up a 1-out walk in the bottom of the third but a groundout to short and a fly ball out to center left the runner stranded.
Prairie kept adding on with another run in the fourth. Dean Johnson drew a 1-out walk. McElroy walked and Glenns Ferry changed pitchers. Schwartz was walked on 4 pitches to load the bases. Alfrey then beat out an infield hit that scored Johnson to make it 8-0.
Ross finally gave up a run in the bottom of the fourth as he gave up a 1 out bloop single. The runner stole second and after the next batter was walked, stole third. The run scored on a groundout to third to make it 8-1 after 4 innings.
Prairie got the run back in the fifth as Shears led off with a walk and stole second. After an out, Shears scored on a single by Kaschmitter to make it 9-1.
Glenns Ferry scored another run in the bottom of that inning. The leadoff hitter singled and stole second. He went to third on a comebacker to Ross and scored on a groundout to third. The Pilots looked to put together a 2-out rally as a hit batsman and 2 singles loaded the bases but Ross got out of the inning on a grounder to short for a forceout.
Prairie scored a 2-out run in the sixth inning as Hasselstrom was walked with 2 outs. A single to right by Remacle moved Hasselstrom to third and he scored on a wild pitch to make it 10-2.
Ross hit two batters in the bottom of the sixth but got out of the inning on a strikeout and foul popup to Kaschmitter.
The Pirates added on 3 more runs in the seventh. Kaschmitter doubled to right with 1 out. Johnson singled up the middle with Kaschmitter only able to advance to third as he had to make sure Johnson’s hit dropped in. A wild pitch moved Johnson up to second. After a second out, Schwartz singled up the middle to score both baserunners. Alfrey followed with a single and a single by Hasselstrom scored Schwartz to make it 13-2.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ross had his only 1-2-3 inning of the game and needed just 3 pitches to do it as Prairie advanced to the semifinals.
Ross allowed 2 runs on 5 hits with 2 strikeouts, 2 walks and 4 hit batsmen.
The Pirates had  12 hits led by Hasselstrom who had 3 singles and 3 RBI. Kaschmitter had a double and a single and 2 RBI. Shears had a double and an RBI. Alfrey had 2 singles and 2 RBI. Schwartz had a single and 2 RBI. Remacle had a single and an RBi and Johnson and McElroy each had a single.
Prairie 0 4 3 1 1 1 3—13 12 1
G. F.   0 0 0 1 1 0 0—  2   5 3
Prairie played Genesee a lot tougher in the semifinal game than the Bulldogs opponent in the championship did.
Prairie scored first as Ross hit a 1 out double to right and came in to score on Johnson’s 2-out single to left.
However Genesee tied it in the bottom of the first thanks to a pair of errors by the Pirates. Genesee’s leadoff hit reached on an error and then scored on another error on the next batter that led to that batter going all the way to third. After a walk, Prairie pitcher Chase Kaschmitter got out of the inning without further damage thanks to a strikeout, pickoff of the runner at third by Ross and another strikeout.
Prairie had a 2-out rally in the third to retake the lead with 3 runs. Remacle walked with 2 out then Shears reached on an error. Both runners scored when Ross tomahawked an 0-2 pitch to left center for his second double of the game. Ross then scored on a single to left by Kaschmitter to make it 4-1.
Genesee got that run back in the bottom of the second and had the bases loaded with 1 out after scoring that run on a walk and 2 singles. Kaschmitter got out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout to leave Prairie ahead 4-2.
Prairie went down in order in the third and Genesee pulled within 1 with a run in their half of the inning without benefit of a hit. Kaschmitter hit the first two batters then walked the next one to load the bases. Prairie got an out on a force at the plate but a run then scored on a passed ball. A walk reloaded the bases with still only 1 out. Kaschmitter then got out of the inning as the next batter lined out to him on the mound and Kaschmitter threw to third to double off the runner there for the third out.
It was another 2 out rally in the fourth as Shears walked with 2 outs and stole second. He scored on another 0-2 pitch double by Ross. Ross then scored on a double to right by Kaschmitter to make it 6-3.
Things fell apart for Prairie in the bottom of the fourth through as another error put the leadoff hitter on. A bunt single and an infield single loaded the bases. A double down the rightfield line scored 2 runs and a bloop single to right tied the game. After a strikeout Kaschmitter walked a better to reload the bases and then hit a batter to give Genesee the go-ahead run.  Kaschmitter was then lifted in favor of Alfrey who got Prairie out of the inning with a pair of pop-ups to the infield.
Neither team scored in the fifth inning.
In the sixth inning Remacle walked to lead off the inning. Shears followed with a walk. However Ross then hit into a double play that left him as the only runner on base at first. Ross stole second and went to third on an infield single by Chase Kaschmitter.  Ross the scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the sixth Alfrey got 2 quick outs then gave up a walk. A wild pitch moved the runner to second and the go-ahead run scored on a single up the middle. Alfrey then got out of the inning but Genesee now led 7-8.
In the top of the seventh Prairie made two quick outs on grounders to second. Alfrey then singled to right but the game ended when he was forced out at second on a grounder by Hasselstrom.
Kaschmitter gave up 7 runs on 7 hits in 3 1/3 innings with 4 strikeouts, 5 walks and 3 hit batsmen.
Alfrey gave up 1 run on 3 hits in 2 2/3 innings with 2 strikeouts, 1 walk and 1 hit batsman.
Prairie had 10 hits led by Ross who had 3 doubles and 3 RBI. Kaschmitter had a double and 2 singles and 2 RBI. Alfrey had 2 singles. Johnson had a single and an RBI and Shears had a single.
Prairie    1 3 0 2 0 1 0—7 10 3
Genesee 1 1 1 4 0 1 x—8 10 1
The third place game against Horseshoe Bend was a back and forth affair with both teams down to the back end of their pitching staffs due to it being their third game in 2 days.
Schwartz started for Prairie and got off to a good start as he set down the Mustangs in order in the first inning.
Prairie got off to a great start in the bottom of the first as they first 3 batters all got hits and scored. Shears led off with a single up the middle and stole second. Ross scored him with his fourth double of the tournament, this one to the left field corner. Ross then scored on Kaschmitter’s single to right. Kaschmitter took second on the throw home. After two outs, Schwartz reached on an error as Kaschmitter scored to make it 3-0.
The Prairie offense then went dormant as they didn’t get another hit until the sixth inning.
Schwartz sailed through the second with the only baserunner reaching on an error. However he ran into trouble in the third inning. After getting an out, he gave up a single, walk and a single to load the bases. He then gave up a bases clearing double that tied the game at 3-3.
Schwartz got through the fourth inning without a run but then ran into trouble again in the fifth. After a leadoff single he got a strikeout then gave up 3 straight singles that scored 3 runs. He was then pulled with Johnson going to the mound for his first pitching action since the Potlatch doubleheader. Johnson struggled to find the plate as he walked 3 of the first 4 batters he faced to force in another run before getting out of the inning on a strikeout. However Prairie was now behind 3-7.
Prairie got 2 of those runs back in the bottom of the inning without benefit of a hit. McElroy was hit by a pitch and went to second on a passed ball. Schwartz reached on an error with McElroy scoring. Schwartz went all the way to third on the error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alfrey to make it 5-7.
In the top of the sixth Horseshoe Bend’s leadoff hitter singled to right but was thrown out at second by Hasselstrom trying to stretch that single into a double.  After a second out the Mustangs put a run together on a walk, hit batsman and a bloop single to make it 5-8.
Prairie rallied back in the bottom of the sixth. Ross was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Kaschmitter then single to right for Prairie’s first hit since his single in the first inning. Johnson followed with an RBI single up the middle as Ross scored. McElroy walked to load the bases and Horseshoe Bend changed pitchers. Schwartz greeted the new pitcher with a 2-run single to left. McElroy and Schwartz both move up a base on a wild pitch. Alfrey then hit a foul pop-up behind third base. The shortstop caught it but McElroy was able to tag up and score the go-ahead run as Prairie made it 9-8.
In the top of the seventh Horseshoe Bend took back the lead. After an out, a walk, error and single led to 2 runs scoring as the Mustangs took a 9-10 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh Horseshoe Bend sent a new pitcher to the mound and Kaschmitter greeted him with a double to left. Kaschmitter had crashed into the fence a couple innings earlier and had hurt his leg. Alex McElroy went in to pinch run. A balk was called on what looked like a pop out to first by Johnson. That moved McElroy to third. Given new life Johnson then hit a fly ball into short left field but the shortstop was able to make a diving catch. However McElroy was able to tag up and score the tying run. The next two Prairie batters hit fly ball outs and the game went to extra innings.
In the top of the tenth Johnson gave up a leadoff walk. After a strikeout, a couple of passed balls allowed the runner to go to third. After another walk and a stolen base, Horseshoe Bend had runners on second and third with just 1 out.  The next batter hit a foul pop-up that was caught by Ross for the second out. Johnson then struck out the next batter on 3 pitches to get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the tenth Hasselstrom beat out a 1-out infield single. After a second out, Hasselstrom stole second. Shears worked the count to 3-2 and then hit a single to right center and Hasselstrom scored the winning run.
Schwartz allowed 7 runs on 7 hits in 4 1/3 innings with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks. Johnson allowed 3 runs on 3 hits in 3 2/3 innings with 5 strikeouts, 7 walks and 1 hit batsman.
Prairie had 9 hits led by Kaschmitter who had a double and 2 singles and an RBI. Shears had 2 singles and the game winning RBI. Ross had a double and an RBI. Johnson and Schwartz each had a single and 2 RBI. Hasselstrom had a single. Alfrey had no hits but had 2 RBI on sacrifice flies.
The Pirates end their season with a 14-6 record.
H. B.   0 0 3 0 4 1 2 0—10 10 2
Prairie 3 0 0 0 2 4 1 1—11   9 3