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Pirates rally to win twice
The Prairie Lady Pirates softball team opened their season with a pair of wins at the Orofino Tournament Friday, March 7. Both games were come-from-behind wins as they trailed St. Maries, 5-7 before rallying to win 11-7 thanks most to 3 home runs and 8 RBI by Hilaree VanderPas and then trailed Orofino 2-5 before rallying to win 7-6. 
In the opener against St. Maries starting pitcher Tiffany Schaeffer had trouble finding the plate and walked the first two hitters. Two groundouts followed leading to a run scoring before she got out of the inning with a fly ball out to center. In the bottom of the first Schaeffer led off and walked on 4 pitches. Kara Guyer then popped a flare behind third that fell for a single. VanderPas then came up and smacked the first pitch she saw over the fence in straightaway centerfield for a 3-run homer to give Prairie the lead. After an out, Alli Holthaus, Kim Schaeffer and Leora Laurino all walked and an error led to both Holthaus and Schaeffer scoring as Prairie took a 5-1 lead. After a relatively easy second inning in which she got 3 fly ball outs after walking the leadoff hitter, Tiffany Schaeffer ran into control problems again, walking 4 straight batters to force in a run. A sacrifice fly to center and a ground out to third produced 2 more runs. Another walk reloaded the bases and a single that dropped behind second base made it a 4-run inning to tie the game. In the fourth inning three more walks and a run led coach Travis Mader to make a pitching change as he brought in sophomore Sam Frei. Frei gave up a run scoring single to the first batter then got out of the inning with a double play as the batter lined out to shortstop Alli Holthaus. Holthaus managed to double off the runner at third despite spiking the ball into the ground on her throw. Third baseman Guyer was able to grab the ball and get the out. In the bottom of the fourth Tiffany Schaeffer got a 1-out double to left and Guyer reached on an error. VanderPas then got a 3-0 pitch to her liking and lined it over the left field fence for her second 3-run homer, putting Prairie back into the lead at 8-7. In the bottom of the fifth Rachel Kaschmitter led off with a walk but was forced at second by Alena Hoene, who was hitting for Frei. Tiffany Schaeffer then beat out an infield hit and Guyer scored Hoene with a sacrifice fly to center. VanderPas then followed with her third homer of the game, this one over the fence in right field. In the pitcher’s circle meanwhile Frei was able to throw strikes and gave up no more runs while allowing 2 singles and 1 walk. The game was called after the top of the sixth due to the tournament’s time limit for games. Frei picked up the win while allowing 3 hits, no runs and 1 walk in 2 2/3 innings with 1 strikeout. Schaeffer gave up 7 runs on just 2 hits with 11 walks in 3 1/3 innings. Prairie had 8 hits in the game led by VanderPas who had 3 homers and 8 RBI. Tiffany Schaeffer had a double and 2 singles and scored 3 runs. Brooke Holthaus had a double and Guyer had a single. St. Maries 1 0 4 2 0 0 – 7 4 2 Prairie 5 0 0 3 3 x - 11 8 0 In their second game of the night, Prairie won the pre-game coin flip and got to be the home team against tournament host Orofino. Frei started this game and breezed through the first two innings with 4 strikeouts while facing just 6 batters. Prairie meanwhile picked up a run in the bottom of the first and Tiffany Schaeffer walked and stole second. Guyer also waked but was forced at second by VanderPas with Schaeffer going to third. Brooke Holthaus then blooped a single down the left field line to score Schaeffer for a 1-0 Prairie lead.  In
the top of the third Frei ran into trouble as she gave up a leadoff single
and then made an error trying to get the next batter at first. A squeeze
bunt scored a run and a triple to straightaway center scored another run
with a wild pitch making it 1-3 for Orofino.
In the second and third innings Prairie couldn’t capitalize on scoring opportunities. In the second Kim Schaeffer reached on an error to lead off the inning and Laurino followed with a double. A baserunning snafu on the play led to Schaeffer getting thrown out at home. Kaschmitter followed with a walk and stole second but Orofino then got the final two outs. In the third Guyer led off with a double and VanderPas walked but a double play and a groundout got Orofino out of the inning with no runs scoring. In the fourth Schaeffer walked and Laurino doubled putting runners on second and third with no outs. Kaschmitter grounded to third to score Schaeffer but that was Prairie’s only run as they cut the lead to 2-3. Orofino added a run in the top of the fifth on a single and a couple of wild pitches. They added another run in the sixth with a 2-out rally as a double, single and hit batsman loaded the bases. Another hit batsman forced in a run before catcher Brooke Holthaus got the third out by picking off the runner at third. In the bottom of the sixth Orofino’s pitcher was obviously getting tired as she lost her control, walking Prairie’s first 4 batters while throwing only 2 strikes. That pulled Prairie within 3-5 and brought Hoene to the plate. Hoene hit a 1-1 pitch up the middle into centerfield for a 2-run single to tie the game. Tiffany Schaeffer walked and Guyer beat out an infield single that scored a run. VanderPas then lofted a high fly ball to center that got up above the lights and the Orofino centerfielder wound up dropping the ball for an error leading to 1 more run and a 7-5 lead. Orofino got a leadoff walk and a 1 out single for a run in the top of the seventh but a popup to the catcher and a lineout to second ended the threat and Prairie wound up with the win. Frei pitched all 7 innings allowing 6 runs, 5 of them earned, on 6 hits with 1 walk, 2 hit batters and 4 strikeouts. Prairie pounded out 7 hits led by Guyer who had a double and 2 singles and 1 RBI. Laurino had 2 doubles while Hoene had a 2-run single and Brooke Holthaus had an RBI single. Kaschmitter had 2 RBI. Prairie was to play in the tournament’s championship game Saturday against Kellogg but rain that morning led to a delay and conflicts for the players. Orofino 0 0 3 0 1 1 1—6 6 1 Prairie 1 0 0 1 0 5 x—7 7 1 
PHS girls basketball award winners from left are Kim Schaeffer, team captain and most inspirational; Sarah Arnzen, team captain and most improved; Tiffany Schaeffer, team captain; Mary Shears, JV most valuable; Meaghan Bruner, JV most inspirational and NaTosha Schaeffer and Amber Holthaus, JV co-captains. Not pictured is Francesca Johnson, JV 6th man award. Prairie Girls Softball 2008 schedule March 7-At Orofino Tournament-vs. St. Maries, won 11-7; vs. Orofino, won 7-6 8-At Orofino Tournament, due to weather delays, didn't play 11-at Culdesac, won 15-1, details next week 13-at Lapwai 17-at Kamiah 18-vs. Timberline at Sunset Park in Lewiston (2 games) 19-at Orofino, 4:30 p.m. April 1-vs. Potlatch at Lewiston, 2 games, 4 p.m. (change from vs. C.V. as C.V. doesn't have a team this year) 3-Lewis County here (date changed to April 3) 8-at Kendrick, 2 games, 3:30 p.m. 14-Grangeville here 15-Culdesac here 17-Kamiah here 19-Troy here, 2 games, 11 a.m. 21-at Grangeville 22-Lapwai here 24-vs. Genesee at Airport Park, Lewiston, 2 games 28-at Lewis County May 3, 5, 7-District at Prairie 16-17-State at Caldwell |
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