| Pirates
lose to Orofino
The Prairie baseball team fell behind 1-8 after a 6-run third inning by Orofino and couldn’t erase the deficit as they lost 9-13 at Cottonwood Thursday, April 22. Prairie played this and will play the next several games without 3 starters who have been suspended from play for disciplinary reasons. 
Starting pitcher Mat Forsmann had trouble finding the strike zone early on and pitched behind in the count which helped Orofino tally 3 first inning hits including a pair of ground rule doubles that in the past would have been home runs. An extra pole was added in right field with any ball going out between it and the foul pole being a double. This is because it is such a short distance to the right field fence. Prairie cut the lead to 1 in the second inning when C.J. Rieman hit a fly ball double to right that just barely stayed in the park. He went to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. In the third inning Orofino scored 6 runs on just 2 hits as 3 errors, 2 walks and a hit batsmen all contributed to the scoring outburst. Prairie battled back with 2 runs each in the third and fourth to cut the lead to 5-8. In the third Brent Frei walked and Tyler Crane was hit by a pitch. Chad Arnzen singled to left to score Frei. After a pair of outs, Phillip Henry reached on an infield single with Crane scoring. In the fifth Jacob Riener led off with a walk, stole second and scored on Forsmann’s double to left. Frei reached on an error but was forced at second by Crane. After a strikeout, Rieman hit his second double to almost the same spot as his first one with Forsmann scoring but Crane was called out at the plate on a play disputed by both Prairie coaches. In the sixth Orofino padded their lead with a leadoff homer and a pair of 2-out unearned runs. An error started the rally and 2 singles and a walk led to the runs.  In
the bottom of the sixth Prairie put their first 5 batters on. Forsmann
led off with a single then Frei and Crane walked to load the bases. Arnzen
pounded a high fly to left that was just short of a grand slam as it hit
5 feet up the 6 foot fence. Only Forsmann scored as it looked like the
left fielder had a chance to catch the ball. Rieman walked to force in
a run and Jacob Nuxoll reached on a fielder’s choice with Crane scoring.
Henry scored Arnzen wit a sacrifice fly to left.
That pulled Prairie within 2 runs at 9-11 but Orofino added 2 more in the seventh and although Prairie put 2 runners on in the bottom of the seventh, they couldn’t score them. Prairie wound up with 9 hits with Rieman collecting a pair of doubles, Forsmann a double and single, Arnzen 2 singles and Nuxoll, Henry and Sean Daly a single each. Forsmann pitched 4 innings allowing 7 hits with 4 strikeouts and 4 walks and a hit batsmen good for 8 runs. Rieman pitched the final 3 innings allowing 4 hits with 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, 2 hit batsmen and 5 runs. 7 of Orofino’s 13 runs were earned. Orofino 2 0 6 0 0 3 2—13 11 2 Prairie 0 1 2 2 0 4 0— 9 9 5 Pirates pounded by Grangeville The Grangeville Bulldogs pounded Prairie pitching for 14 hits and 21 runs in a 3-21 rout of the Pirates at Cottonwood Friday, April 23. Grangeville tallied 5 first innings runs on just 2 hits as 2 walks, a hit batsmen and a passed ball on a third strike accounted for the damage. 
Grangeville added another run in the second on a pair of doubles and 3 more in the third on a walk and 2 singles before really racking up the runs in an 11-run fourth. Prairie’s Jacob Riener suffered most of the runs as he struggled to throw strikes on his breaking pitches and wound up getting pounded when he had to put a fastball over for a strike. C.J. Rieman relieved Riener with 2 outs and 9 runs scored in the fourth and was greeted with a 2-run home to left center. Rieman gave up 1 more run in the fifth and was saved from another run when the Grangeville runner on third left too early on what would have been a sacrifice fly to left. Sean Daly made a great catch on a ball the runner assumed was going to drop in. In the first two innings Prairie had baserunners but couldn’t bring them around. In the third Brent Frei reached on a 1-out walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Tyler Crane followed with a single to left. Chad Arnzen then crushed a double over the centerfielder’s head with Frei scoring. Two perfect throws, from center to short and short to home caught Crane at the plate or Prairie would’ve had 2 runs in the inning.  Prairie
added 2 more in the bottom of the fifth. Frei walked and Crane was hit
by a pitch. After an out, Rieman hit a ground-rule double over the fence
in right that scored both runners, who had moved up on a passed ball to
second and third.
Prairie had 6 hits in the game. Rieman had a double and single with Arnzen hitting a double and Riener, Mat Forsmann and Crane each hitting a single. Riener allowed 19 runs on 12 hits with 5 walks and 2 hit batsmen in 3 2/3 innings. He had 1 strikeout. Rieman gave up 2 hits and 2 runs in 1 1/3 innings with 2 walks and a hit batsman with 1 strikeout. The loss drops Prairie to 7-3 on the season and 3-3 in league play. Grangeville 5 1 3 11 1—21 14 0 Prairie 0 0 1 0 2— 3 6 1 Kubs edge Pirates The Prairie baseball team let a lead slip away in the bottom of the seventh as Kamiah pulled out a 5-6 win at Kamiah Monday, April 26. The game was a makeup for a rain postponement. The game went back and forth with 3 lead changes before the Kubs final rally. Kamiah scored first to take a 0-2 lead. Prairie answered with a run in the second and took the lead for the first time with 2 runs in the fourth. That lead didn’t last long as Kamiah score twice in the bottom of the fourth to retake the lead. Prairie answered right back with another two-spot in the top of the fifth for a 5-4 lead and held that until the bottom of the seventh. A pair of errors contributed to the Kubs rally. Prairie outhit the Kubs 9-4 in the game with Jake Riener collecting 3 hits including a pair of doubles. Phillip Henry had 2 singles and Mat Forsmann, Tyler Crane, C.J. Rieman and Jacob Nuxoll each had a single. Forsmann started on the mound for the Pirates with Rieman coming on in the fourth inning. With the loss Prairie drops to 7-4 on the season and 3-4 in league play. Prairie 0 1 0 2 2 0 0—5 9 2 Kamiah 2 0 0 2 0 0 2—6 4 2 Pirate Baseball Schedule April 30th Home Kamiah 4:00 May 3rd Away C.V. 4:00 May 7th-15th Away District Tour. (Orofino) TBA May 20th- 22nd Away State Tour. (Orofino) TBA |
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