| Lady
Pirates win District title
Kendra Dinning scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Prairie beat Troy 10-9 to win the District Championship Saturday, May 14 at Lewiston and send the Lady Pirates to state for the 10th straight year, 7th in a row at the 1-A level. 
They will play Notus in first round action at noon at Lewiston this Friday, May 20. Second round games follow at 3 p.m. To get to the championship game the Pirates had to beat Potlatch, a stand-in for Highland who had decided not to participate in the tournament after losing one of their players to a car accident the previous Monday. Prairie wound up winning 14-4 in 5 innings. Megan Sigler started things off with a single up the middle then stole second and third and scored on Tanna Schlader’s single to left. Schlader moved to second on Savanah Prigge’s groundout and scored on Haleigh Schmidt’s infield single. She moved to second on a wild pitch. Kendra Dinning walked and Leah Holthaus then hit an infield grounder. The second baseman misplayed it for an error with Schmidt scoring on the play. Meaghan Bruner singled to load the bases with still only 1 out but Prairie wasn’t able to score any more runs. Potlatch got on the scoreboard in the second inning after a leadoff double to cut the lead to 3-1. Prairie responded with 6 runs in the second as they sent 10 hitters to the plate. Sigler walked to lead off the inning, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. She then score when Schlader reached on an error. Prigge singled to score score Schlader who had stolen second. Schmidt and Dinning both walked to load the bases for Holthaus. Holthaus pounded the ball to left for a 3-run double and wound up scoring as well when the leftfielder let the ball play her as it got past her to the fence. Circling the bases may have taken something out of Holthaus as she gave up a walk and 4 straight hits in the third inning as Potlatch scored 3 runs to cut the lead to 9-4. Prairie avoided further damage when Schlader caught a short fly ball at second and doubled off the runner at first to end the inning. Prairie got a 2-out run in the third when Schmidt beat out an infield single, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and then scored when the centerfielder’s return throw of the catcher’s attempt to get her at second got away at third. Prairie built their margin to 10 with a 4 run fourth. Kendall Schumacher hit a 1 out single up the middle but was forced out at second by Monica Lustig. Lustig stole second and scored on Sigler’s single to right. Sigler stole second and third and scored on Schlader’s triple over the leftfielder’s head. Schlader scored when Prigge reached on an error by the third baseman. Prigge stole second and scored on Schmidt’s single to left. Dinning followed with a single and Holthaus walked to load the bases but the rally died there. Holthaus pitched a 1-2-3 fifth to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule. Holthaus gave up 4 runs on 6 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Prairie had 13 hits in the game as Schmidt had 3 singles and 2 RBI. Schlader and Schumacher had a triple and single each with Schlader picking up 3 RBI. Sigler had 2 singles and an RBI. Holthaus had a double and 4 RBI. Prigge and Bruner had a single each. Potlatch 0 1 3 0 0— 4 6 4 Prairie 3 6 1 4 x—14 13 1  Neither
team scored in the first inning but Prairie was able to push across a run
in the second without benefit of a hit. Holthaus came up with 2 out in
the inning and swung at what appeared to be strike 3 but an illegal pitch
was called giving her another chance. She wound up drawing a walk and then
stole second. The catcher’s throw got past second allowing Holthaus to
go to third. Meaghan Bruner then hit a grounder to second with the throw
going wide of first allowing Holthaus to score.
Troy came right back to take the lead though with a 3-run third inning. A hit batsman, an error and 2 singles led to the 3 runs. The lead didn’t last long though as Prairie pushed across 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the third. Lustig led off the inning with Prairie’s first hit of the game and stole second. Sigler beat out an infield hit with Lustig advancing to third. Schlader then hit a deep fly to center that was caught but allowed Lustig to tag up and score. Sigler wound up scoring on a wild pitch. With 2 outs Schmidt singled up the middle and stole second. Dinning followed with a walk and Holthaus singled to right to score Schmidt with the go-ahead run. Troy came right back with another 3 run outburst. 3 straight singles started the inning and a couple of errors helped Troy score their 3 runs. In the bottom of the fourth though Prairie bounced right back with a 3-spot to retake the lead. Lustig and Sigler each drew 1-out walks. After Schlader popped out, Prigge drilled a ball to deep left for a 2-run triple to tie the game at 7. She then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Both sides went out in order in the fifth but Troy tied the game in the sixth. Holthaus replaced Sigler on the pitching rubber and gave up a leadoff single. A wild pitch and ground out advanced the runner to third and she scored on a squeeze bunt. In the bottom of the inning Prairie took their biggest lead of the game with a 2-run rally. Schumacher led off with a bloop single behind second base. Lustig then laid down a bunt and beat it out but was then tagged out when she turned toward second after reaching first. That was a big out as Sigler followed with a triple that scored Schumacher. Sigler then scored on Schlader’s groundout to short to make it 9-7 heading into the 7th inning. Holthaus should’ve gotten out of the 7th without a run scoring as she got the leadoff hitter to pop out to third and then struck out the next hitter. Unfortunately that hitter reached first as the pitch got past the catcher. The next batter hit an apparent single to right but Schumacher was able to throw the batter out at first for what should have been the final out of the game. A single and a walk loaded the bases and another single brought home 2 runs. Prairie was able to get out of the inning though when the runner on first tried to take third and Schmidt threw to Dinning for the out. With the scored tied at 9 Prairie needed a run to win the game and it was a good thing they were the home team. Dinning led off the inning with a single and advanced to second and third on wild pitches. After a strikeout Bruner came up to the plate. She hit a ground ball to the left of the pitcher that the pitcher was able to field. Dinning took off from third on contact and appeared to beat the throw but would have scored regardless as the catcher was called for blocking the plate before she had the ball. Prairie had 10 hits in the game with Sigler and Prigge each having a triple and a single. Prigge had 2 RBI while Sigler had 1. Lustig had a pair of singles while Schmidt, Dinning, Holthaus and Schumacher each had a single. Schlader didn’t have a hit but had a pair of RBI. Sigler gave up 7 hits and 7 runs in 5 innings with 1 walk, 2 hit batters and 6 strikeouts. Holthaus pitched 2 innings and gave up 3 hits and 3 runs with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. The Lady Pirates take a 16-6 record into the state tournament. See bracket below. Troy 0 0 3 3 0 1 2— 9 10 2 Prairie 0 1 3 3 0 2 1—10 10 4
 Lady Pirates swept by Colton Early in the season the Prairie Lady Pirates gave Colton their only loss of the season. Wednesday, May 11 the Wildcats got their revenge as they swept Prairie 1-7, 1-12 in a doubleheader at Lewiston. The games were scheduled to help Prairie avoid having a 10-day layoff between their final regular season game and the start of district as their final league game against Highland was cancelled. In the opener Prairie got their first 2 runners on base as Megan Sigler led off with an infield single and stole second. Tanna Schlader reached on an error but the next 3 hitters all struck out. Colton scored in the bottom of the first on a leadoff single, stolen base and then 2 groundouts that each advanced the runner. 4 hits in the bottom of the second led to 3 more runs for Colton. Prairie finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning when Sigler hit a leadoff double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored when Savanah Prigge reached on an error. Colton added 3 more runs in the 6th on 3 hits and a walk. Prairie had 5 hits in the game with Sigler having a double and single. Schlader, Meaghan Bruner and Kendall Schumacher each had a single. Prairie left 8 runners on base in the game and struck out 10 times, 3 times looking. Sigler allowed 11 hits and 1 walk while striking out 2. In the second game Leah Holthaus pitched for Prairie and she also gave up a first inning run as the leadoff batter blooped a single to right, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single to left. Colton had a new pitcher as well and although she walked 8 batters Prairie wasn’t able to take advantage. In large part due to 10 more strikeouts, 5 of them looking. Prairie got on the board in the bottom off the third inning but were down 0-6 heading into the inning. Sigler drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Schlader then broke up the no-hitter with an RBI single to right. 3 strikeouts ended the threat. Prairie managed just 3 hits in the game, 2 singles by Schlader and a single by Sigler. This time they left 9 runners on base as they left the bases loaded twice. Holthaus gave up 13 hits and 2 walks while striking out 1. Game 1 Prairie 0 0 0 0 1 0 0—1 5 1 Colton 1 3 0 0 0 3 x—7 11 3 Game 2 Colton 1 1 4 1 5—12 13 0 Prairie 0 0 1 0 0— 1 3 1 Prairie to play Notus in state opener The 1-A state softball tournament is set for Lewiston’s Airport Park this Friday and Saturday, May 20-21. Prairie will play Notus and Genesee will play Greenleaf, both at 12 noon. Second round action is set for 3 p.m. with the winners matching up on one field and the losers on another. Second round action may start earlier though as tournament director Travis Mader says the games will likely start 20 minutes after the last first round game concludes. The tournament continues at 10 a.m. Saturday with a loser out game. The championship game will follow at noon and a second, winner-take-all championship game would be at 2 p.m. if necessary. Prairie and Genesee have met in the last 3 championship finals with Prairie winning the first two and Genesee winning last year. Prairie has reached the championship game all 6 years they’ve been at the 1-A level, going 3-3 in those games. 
Even though the schedule says 3 p.m. for games 3 and 4, tournament director Travis Mader says the games will likely be played 20 minutes after the last first round game concludes, which would probably be closer to 2 p.m. Games 1-4 are Friday, May 20 while the rest of the games are set for Saturday, May 21. Prairie Softball 2011 March 12-vs. Kellogg at Lewiston (2 games) 1 p.m. won 12-6, 10-1 15-Kamiah, there, 4 p.m., postponed due to weather 19-at Lewiston JV Tournament: vs. Colton JV, 10 a.m; vs. Colton, noon; vs. Sandpoint, 2 p.m., cancelled 21-vs. Moscow at Lewiston (2 games) 4:30 p.m. postponed to April 11 22-vs. Highland at Lewiston, 4 p.m., won 20-0 23-vs. Colton, 4:30 p.m., won 9-7 24-vs Potlatch at Lewiston (2 games) 4:30 p.m., won 17-7, 14-2 7-Grangeville, here, 4 p.m., postponed 11-vs. Moscow at Lewiston (2 games) 4:30 p.m. lost 1-11, 4-17 12-vs. Genesee at Lewiston, 4:45 p.m., won 10-0 15-Kamiah, here, 4 p.m., won 13-3 16-vs. Troy at Lewiston (2 games) 11 a.m., lost 6-8, won 17-7 19-Highland, here, 4 p.m., postponed, rain and snow 21-Orofino, there, 4:30 p.m., lost 1-3 25-Grangeville, there, 4 p.m., postponed 26-Timberline, there, 4 p.m. (2 games), won 16-6, 19-1 29-Grangeville, here, won 17-2 9-Highland, here, 4 p.m., cancelled 11-vs Colton at Lewiston, lost 1-7, 1-12 14-Districts at Lewiston, defeated Potlatch 14-4, defeated Troy 10-9, District champs 20-21-State at Lewiston, to play Notus at noon at Airport Park |
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