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Pirates take second at State
The Prairie Lady Pirates stumbled in their opener but still made it to their ninth straight 1-A softball championship game where they lost to Genesee at the State Softball Tournament Friday and Saturday, May 17-18 at Lewiston. 
Prairie lost their opener 3-7 to Greenleaf, the first time Prairie has lost to a non-White Pine League team at state. They bounced back Friday afternoon to edge Horseshoe Bend 2-1. On Saturday morning they faced Greenleaf again and won 14-7 to set up a championship matchup with Genesee. Prairie needed to beat Genesee twice to win the state title but fell 6-10. After that though the Prairie offense struggled except for Schumacher. Greenleaf tied the score with 2 runs in the top of the fourth on a single, triple and another single. Prairie took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth when Schumacher hit a leadoff triple to the gap in left center. She scored when Leah Holthaus bunted to the third baseman. The throw to first went wide allowing Holthaus to reach. Greenleaf came back though and took control in the fifth with 4 runs on 2 walks and 4 singles. A couple of errors on the same play contributed to the Greenleaf scoring. Greenleaf added another run in the sixth on 2 singles and a double. Prairie mustered just 2 hits after Schumacher’s triple in the fourth, a single each by Schumacher and Holthaus in the sixth. For the game Prairie had just 6 hits, 3 by Schumacher who had a triple, double and single. Danly had a double and Sky Wilson and Holthaus each had a single. Holthaus gave up 11 hits and 7 runs with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. Greenleaf 0 0 0 2 4 1 0—7 11 2 Prairie 2 0 0 1 0 0 0—3 6 2  Prairie
mustered just 2 hits in the game but took advantage of a couple of errors
while Horseshoe Bend had 7 hits against Holthaus.
Prairie scored first as Danly drew a 1-out walk in the first inning. She stole second and went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Tanna Schlader’s single to left center. From that point until the top of the seventh Prairie had just 2 baserunners, a 2-out single by Amanda Dinning in the second and a walk by Schlader in the third. After Schlader’s walk the Mustangs’ freshman pitcher Brittney Elliott set down 11 straight Prairie hitters. Horseshoe Bend managed to tie the score in the bottom of the third on a single and a double. Further damage was avoided as Kelsey Tidwell’s relay to shortstop Danly and to Mackenzie Rieman at third kept the Horseshoe Bend hitter from stretching her double to a triple. The Mustangs had two baserunners in the fourth but Holthaus got out of the inning with a pop-up to Schlader at second and a called third strike. The Mustangs threatened again in the fifth with a lead off double and an apparent double, at least, by the next batter but Tidwell made a great running catch. Holthaus then got out of the inning with a foul pop-up to catcher Wilson and a groundout to third. Rieman became Prairie’s first baserunner since the third inning when she was hit on a 2-strike pitch with 1 out. Kellie Heitman went in as a pinch runner. Holthaus laid down a bunt and made it to first when the first baseman dropped the throw. Dinning then hit the ball to second but the second baseman couldn’t handle the ball and the bases were now loaded. Tidwell then picked up the go-ahead RBI with a grounder to second. Dinning was forced at second on the play with Heitman scoring. Horseshoe Bend threatened to at least tie the score in the bottom of the seventh after a 1-out triple. The next batter fouled off six 2-strike pitches before taking a called third strike. The next batter hit a grounder to Danly at shortstop. Danly’s throw bounced toward first but Schumacher at first stretched out as far as she could and was able to field the ball for the out. If her left arm was a couple inches shorter the runner would have been safe and game would’ve been tied. As it was the game was over and Prairie had survived elimination. Schlader and Dinning each had a single for the only hits in the game for Prairie. Holthaus gave up 7 hits with no walks and 3 strikeouts. Prairie had no errors while Horseshoe Bend had 2 big errors, both in the seventh inning. Prairie 1 0 0 0 0 0 1—2 2 0 H. Bend 0 0 1 0 0 0 0—1 7 2  Prairie
though brought their bats with them on Saturday and started the bottom
of the first off with 5 straight hits.
Wilson led off with an infield single. Danly then tripled to right center to score Wilson. Schlader singled up the middle to tie the game and Nuxoll got a ball to drop in short centerfield for what turned out to be a double. Schlader had to hold up at third as it appeared the ball might be caught. Schumacher then made it 4 hits in a row off of Greenleaf’s pitcher with an RBI single to put Prairie ahead 3-2. After Schumacher’s single there was a big discussion between the umpires and the coaches. After several games where Schumacher hit fifth and Rieman sixth, Prairie coach Jeff Martin had flipflopped them back to where they were early in the season. Since Schumacher had already completed her at bat there was no out given for batting out of order. Rieman just didn’t get a chance to hit in the inning. Greenleaf had a single in the second but Prairie got an inning-ending double play with the baserunner being called out for interference on the ground ball to second. Prairie added 2 runs in the second when Schlader and Nuxoll both singled and Rieman was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Schumacher drew a bases loaded walk for an RBI and Holthaus picked up an RBI on a groundout to make it 5-2. In the third Greenleaf had a 1-out single but the batter turned around first too far and was thrown out by Danly after receiving the throw from Nuxoll in left field. In the third Wilson reached on an error and stole second. Danly then singled her home. Schlader followed with a single to center with Danly advancing to third. Nuxoll grounded out to short with Danly scoring to make it 7-2. Greenleaf had a leadoff single in the fourth but the next batter lined out to Schumacher who completed an unassisted double play by tagging the bag to double off the baserunner. In the fourth Prairie added 3 more runs with Schumacher hitting a leadoff triple and scoring on Dinning’s single up the middle. Tidwell followed with a single up the middle and Wilson made it 3 singles in a row with both Dinning and Tidwell scoring to make it 10-2. After playing outstanding defense for 4 innings, things came apart in the top of the fifth for the Pirates. Prairie committed 3 errors in the inning which along with 2 singles allowed Greenleaf to plate 3 runs and cut the lead to 10-5. Prairie got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning as Nuxoll led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Schumacher’s single to left. In the bottom of the sixth Prairie threatened to end the game early on the 10-run rule but left the game-ending run at third base. Wilson hit a 1-out double and scored on Schlader’s triple to right center. Nuxoll followed with a triple of her own to score Schlader. Rieman was hit by a pitch and Schumacher then scored Nuxoll with a single to left. A bunt single by Holthaus loaded the bases but the next batter popped out to first as Prairie left the bases loaded. Prairie took a 9-run lead into the top of the seventh but Greenleaf got a rally going with 1 out. An infield hit and a double put runners on 2nd and 3rd. An error led to one run and a single scored another. Holthaus then got a strikeout and a fly ball out to right to end the game. Prairie pounded out 20 hits in the game, a far cry from the 6 they had Friday against the same pitcher. Nuxoll, Schlader and Schumacher each had 4 hits. Nuxoll had a triple, double and 2 singles while Schlader and Schumacher each had a triple and 3 singles. Schumacher wound up 7 for 7 plus a walk in the two games against Greenleaf. Wilson had a double and 2 singles while Danly had a triple and a single. Holthaus, Dinning and Tidwell each had a single. Rieman was the only starter not to have a hit but was hit by a pitch twice in the game. Holthaus gave up 12 hits and 7 runs with no walks and 3 strikeouts. Greenleaf 2 0 0 0 3 0 2— 7 12 2 Prairie 3 2 2 3 1 3 x—14 20 4  It
looked like it was going to be a rout early on as Genesee jumped on Prairie
for 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Five of their first 6 batters
got hits.
Prairie got one of those runs back in the top of the second as Rieman led off with a single and stole second. She scored on Dinning’s 2-out double to right. Genesee did not score in the second inning and Prairie was able to take the lead in the top of the third. Wilson and Danly each singled to start the inning and Schlader doubled to right to score Wilson. After an out, Rieman singled home Danly and Schumacher singled to scored Schlader and tie the game at 4-4. Holthaus forced Rieman at third and Dinning beat out an infield hit to load the bases. Tidwell then grounded to third where an error allowed Schumacher to score the go-ahead run. Another forceout ended the inning. Two doubles by Genesee in the bottom of the third tied the score at 5-5 and Genesee took the lead for good with 3 runs in the fourth on a double and 3 singles. Prairie got a run back in the fifth as a bunt single by Holthaus, a walk to Dinning and a single by Tidwell loaded the bases. Wilson scored Holthaus with a sacrifice fly to right but that was it for the Pirates. Genesee tacked on 2 more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a disputed play. With 2 outs and a runner on first, Genesee’s Sydney Cornell hit a long fly ball down the left field line that appeared to go out of play for what would have been a ground rule double but was ruled in play by the umpires and turned out to be a 2-run homer. Prairie had 11 hits in the game with Schlader and Dinning each having a double, single and an RBI. Rieman had 2 singles and an RBI while Wilson, Danly, Schumacher, Holthaus and Tidwell each had a single. Holthaus gave up 14 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts. Prairie winds up their season with a 17-6 record. This year’s seniors had a combined 73-20 four-year record with 2 state championships and 2 runner-up finishes. For the tournament Schumacher wound up hitting 8 for 14, .571. She tied the state tournament record for triples with 2 and was 1 shy of the record for hits. She also led the team with 6 RBI, 1 shy of the old state record. Holthaus tied the record for most pitching appearances with 4 and missed tying Sammi Frei’s state record for innings by 1 with 27. Schlader, despite a broken finger suffered in the district championship game, hit 7 for 13, .538, with 4 RBI. The broken finger is why she and Danly switched defensive positions for the tournament. Prairie 0 1 4 0 1 0 0— 6 11 0 Genesee 4 0 1 3 0 2 x—10 14 1
The Prairie Lady Pirates were able to come up with a few smiles despite losing to Genesee in the state championship game as they are shown posing with the 2nd place trophy. Kneeling from left are Cheryl Gehring, Ashley Cannon, Jessica Kaschmitter, Hailey Danly, Kelsey Tidwell, Sky Wilson, Abbie Uhlenkott and Krista Hess. Back from left are coach Steve Wilson, Leah Holthaus, Tanna Schlader, Kellie Heitman, Holli Uhlorn, Taylor Nuxoll, Andrea Kaschmitter, Mackenzie Rieman, Amanda Dinning, Natasha Gimmeson, Sarah Seubert, Marina Evans, Brooke Schumacher, Kendall Schumacher, manager Faith Uhlenkott and head coach Jeff Martin. Game write-ups are on page 4. March 16-vs. Kellogg (2) (@ Lewiston) Airport #2), 12 noon, lost 2-5, won 7-6 19-Orofino, there, 4 p.m., won 10-2 22-vs. Genesee (@Lewiston), 5 p.m., lost 2-9 16-CV, here, 4 p.m. (1+1), won 27-0 18-Troy, here, 4 p.m. (1+1), won 10-8 25-Potlatch (@Lewiston) Airport #2, 4:30 p.m. (2), won 13-3, won 14-5 26-Genesee, here, 5 p.m., lost 8-11 29-Orofino, here, 4 p.m. (1+1), lost 4-12 30-at Asotin, 4 p.m., won 3-2 6-Lewiston JV, there, 4 p.m. (2), rescheduled from April 19-Cancelled due to Senior Projects presentations 9-Districts (@Lewiston), Games 1 & 2, 5:30 p.m. - defeated Troy 5-4 10-Districts (@Lewiston), Games 3 & 4, 5:30 p.m., 2nd place game, 7 p.m., defeated Genesee 6-3-District Champions 17 & 18-State (@Lewiston), Games 1 & 2, 12 noon (Prairie vs. Greenleaf and Genesee vs. Horseshoe Bend); Games 3 & 4, 3 p.m.; Game 5 at 10 a.m. Saturday; Game 6 at 12 noon; Game 7 (if necessary), 2 p.m., lost to Greenleaf 3-7, defeated Horseshoe Bend 2-1, defeated Greenleaf 14-7, lost to Genesee 6-10, 2nd at State |
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