| VanderPas
tosses another no-hitter
Meghan VanderPas tossed another no-hitter as the Prairie softball team beat Lapwai 16-3 at Cottonwood Thursday, April 21. 
The official game score is actually 16-0 as Prairie won on the 15-run rule after 4 innings but the teams played a fifth inning where Lapwai pushed across 3 runs on 3 walks, 2 hit batters and an error. Through the first 4 innings VanderPas allowed just 6 baserunners, 3 on walks and hitting 3 batters while striking out 7. She added 2 more strikeouts in the top of the fifth. Prairie got all the runs they would need in the bottom of the first inning, all with 2 outs. Ashley Schaeffer was called out for stepping out of the batter’s box on a foul ball and Tiffany Schaeffer grounded out to second. VanderPas then got the rally going with a triple down the left field line that hit the base of the fence. Natalie Arnzen followed with a single to bring in VanderPas. Arnzen stole second and third and after Kylie Uhlorn walked, they pulled off a double steal with Arnzen stealing home. Alli Holthaus then grounded to third but for some reason the Lapwai third baseman tossed the ball back to the pitcher rather than trying to make a play on either Uhlorn coming in from second or Holthaus at first. Carolyn Sonnen then beat out an infield hit with Uhlorn scoring. A throwing error during the play allowed the runners to move to second and third. Holthaus stole home with Sonnen moving to third. Sonnen then stole home. Kim Schaeffer walked and stole second and scored on Brooke Holthaus’ double to left for a 6-0 Prairie lead. Prairie didn’t score in the second inning but added 3 more in the third. Alli Holthaus led off the inning with a triple over the centerfielder’s head and stole home for the second time in the game. Chantal Boniecki, in for Sonnen, walked and stole second and scored on Kim Schaeffer’s triple to left center. Schaeffer scored on Brooke Holthaus’ groundout. Prairie added 7 more runs in the fourth inning on just 2 hits after Lapwai changed pitchers. Four walks and 2 errors contributed to the scoring. VanderPas walked to lead off the inning and Arnzen reached on an error. Kylie then singled to left and went all the way to third with 2 runs scoring as the leftfielder let the ball get away. Uhlorn then scored on a wild pitch. Alli Holthaus and Boniecki both walked and Kim Schaeffer reached on an error with Holthaus and Boniecki both scoring. Myken Dahlen, in for Brooke Holthaus walked. The two runners moved up when Ashley Schaeffer reached on a fielder’s choice. Kim Schaeffer then scored on a wild pitch. VanderPas doubled home Dahlen to make it 16-0. Prairie had 9 hits in the game with VanderPas collecting a double and triple. Arnzen had 2 singles, Alli Holthaus and Kim Schaeffer each had a triple, Brooke Holthaus a double and Uhlorn and Sonnen each had a single. Lapwai 0 0 0 0 3— 3 0 3 Prairie 6 0 3 7 x—16 9 1 Lady Pirates sweep Troy The Prairie Lady Pirates swept a pair of league games from Troy, 13-3 and 12-2 at Cottonwood Saturday, April 23 at Cottonwood. Both games were called after 5 innings on the 10-run mercy rule. Meghan VanderPas pitched both games for Prairie and allowed just 3 total hits, 2 in the first game. In the opening game Prairie jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning only to have Troy come back with 2 in the second inning and 1 in the third to tie the game at 3-3. Prairie broke it open in the bottom of the third though as they scored 9 runs. They added 1 more in the fourth for the 10-run margin. Prairie had 12 hits in the game with Ashley Schaeffer hitting a double and a homer. Brooke Holthaus had 3 hits including a triple and Kylie Uhlorn had 3 hits including a double. Alli Holthaus had a single and a triple. Chantel Boniecki and Kim Schaeffer each had a double and Natalie Arnzen had a single. In the second game Prairie scored 3 runs in the top of the first and never trailed. Troy scored single runs in the first and third. Prairie added 1 more in the second and 2 in the third for a 6-2 lead. The Pirates added 6 more runs in the top of the fifth to build the 10-run margin to end the game early. Prairie had 14 hits in the game led by Tiffany Schaeffer who had 3 singles and Ashley Schaeffer who had a double and single. Arnzen and Myken Dahlen each had 2 singles while VanderPas, Uhlorn, Boniecki, Alli Holthaus and Brooke Holthaus each had a single. Game 1 Troy 0 2 1 0 0— 3 2 4 Prairie 3 0 9 1 x—13 12 0 Game 2 Prairie 3 1 2 0 6—12 14 0 Troy 1 0 1 0 0— 2 1 3 Lady Pirates beat Kendrick The Prairie softball team continued to stay unbeaten in the White Pine League with a 14-2 win over Kendrick at Cottonwood Monday, April 25.  Prairie
jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning, collecting just 1 hit
in the process.
Ashley Schaeffer walked to lead off the game and scored on Tiffany Schaeffer’s triple to the gap in left center. Tiffany then scored on a wild pitch. Meghan VanderPas and Natalie Arnzen both walked and between stolen bases and wild pitches were both able to move around the bases and score. Prairie added 7 runs in the second inning to put the game out of reach. 3 more walks, an error and a pair of singles led to the scoring. Carolyn Sonnen walked to lead off the inning and moved around to third on a pair of wild pitches. She scored on Ashley Schaeffer’s single to right. Tiffany Schaeffer then beat out a bunt single and VanderPas walked to load the bases. Arnzen grounded to third and reached first after the third baseman bobbled the ball with a run scoring. Kylie Uhlorn then walked to force home another run. Alli Holthaus grounded to short but all hands were safe with 2 more runs scoring as the second baseman dropped the throw. Kim Schaeffer then struck out but the ball got away from the catcher and another run scored as Kendrick made the play at first to retire Schaeffer. Uhlorn and Holthaus both wound up scoring on wild pitches. Kendrick got on the board with a pair of unearned runs in the third inning. The leadoff batter singled to left and went to second on a error by the leftfielder. A couple of wild pitches allowed her to score. After a pair of strikeouts, Kendrick got another runner on a third strikeout as she swung at a pitch in the dirt that got past the catcher. Two wild pitches and an error allowed the runner to eventually circle the bases with a run. Prairie answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the third. Kendrick changed pitchers and after Brooke Holthaus was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, 2 outs were quickly recorded. VanderPas then singled to score Holthaus and Arnzen followed with a triple to the gap in right center. Uhlorn then singled up the middle to score Arnzen to make it 14-2. 
Kendrick’s only other base hit came in the fourth inning. It might have scored another run except it followed a great defensive play by Arnzen. After the leadoff batter had walked and gone to second on a wild pitch, the next batter hit a line shot to Arnzen at short and Arnzen then tagged the runner off second for an unassisted double play. VanderPas pitched the first 4 innings allowing 2 hits with 3 walks and 1 hit batter while recording 9 strikeouts. Ashley Schaeffer pitched the 5th inning and faced only 3 batters. One of them walked but VanderPas threw her out attempting to steal. She was first called safe but second baseman Brooke Holthaus held the tag on the runner who couldn’t keep contact with the bag after sliding in. Prairie had 6 hits in the game with Tiffany Schaeffer having a triple and a single. Arnzen had a triple and Ashley Schaeffer, VanderPas and Uhlorn each had a double. With the win Prairie is 8-0 in league play and 9-5 overall. Kendrick 0 0 2 0 0— 0 2 3 Prairie 4 7 3 0 x—14 6 2 April 3-Lewis County, here, 4:30 p.m. 4-Culdesac, here, 2 games, 4:30 p.m. 6-7; 13-14-Districts at Cottonwood 20-21-State at Lewiston |
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