| Pirates
open District against Genesee
Prairie will be the #1 seeded team into the 1A District 2 Baseball Tournament that will be held at Orofino Friday and Saturday May 13-14. Prairie would open play at 11 a.m. against Genesee, who knocked off C.V. in a play-in game. #2 seeded Potlatch will play Kamiah, who beat Troy in a play-in game, at 1 p.m. The two early game winners will advance to the championship game Saturday at 9 a.m. The two losers play at 3 p.m. Friday with that winner playing the championship game loser at 11 a.m. Saturday for the #2 seed to State. State will be at Wolfe Field in Caldwell May 19-20. Pirates finish unbeaten in league With 4 more league wins the Prairie baseball team finished with an unbeaten league slate and will be the #1 seed into the District Tournament this weekend at Orofino. On Tuesday, May 3 they traveled to Genesee and swept them in a doubleheader 7-5 and 13-12. On Thursday, May 5 they won a home game over Troy 13-2. Finally they closed out their regular season with a 28-0 win over Nezperce at Cottonwood on Monday, May 9. 
Both Devin Bruegeman for Prairie and Coy Stout for Genesee threw zeros on the scoreboard for the first 3½ innings. Genesee finally got to Bruegeman in the bottom of the fourth as 3 singles led to a pair of runs. The third single that scored both runs was just a little flare that dropped just out of the reach of first baseman Dereck Arnzen. Prairie came right back though as they finally got to Stout in the top of the fifth. Jace Perrin beat out an infield hit and Spencer Schumacher followed with a single to left. The next two batters were put out before Jake Bruner singled to left to score Perrin. Bruner went to second on the throw toward home. Brandon Anderson then doubled down the left field line to score both Schumacher and Bruner and give Prairie their first lead. Calvin Hinkelman then singled to right to score Anderson and make it 4-2. All 4 runs came after there were 2 outs. Genesee put together their own 2-out rally in the bottom of the fifth. After getting two outs on pop-ups Bruegeman got the next hitter to strike out at a curveball in the dirt but the ball got past Anderson the catcher and the batter reached. Bruegeman hit the next batter on a 0-1 pitch and then gave up a 2-run double to deep left field to Stout that tied the game. Neither team scored in the 6th. Bruner led off the top of the seventh with a single up the middle and stole second and then stole third as Anderson drew ball 4. Hinkelman was then intentionally walked to load the bases. The strategy looked like it would work setting up a force at any base as Arnzen hit a grounder to the second baseman, but instead of throwing home for the force to keep the go-ahead run from scoring, he threw to first to get Arnzen as Bruner trotted home to put Prairie up 5-4.. Daniel Mager then stepped in and hit a hard grounder to the second baseman who let the ball get through him for an error as Anderson scored. Perrin drew a 4-pitch walk from the rattled pitcher who then got a strikeout for the second out. While pitching to Bobby Hood though Stout uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Hinkelman to score from third for a 7-4 lead. In the bottom of the seventh Genesee’s leadoff hitter battled for a walk. Bruegeman then got a flyball out. An errant pickoff attempt saw the baserunner advance all the way to third. A single to right then scored him to cut the lead to 7-5. Bruegeman then finished off the game with a short fly to Perrin at second and a strikeout to end it. Bruegeman gave up 5 runs on 7 hits with 1 walk, 1 hit batsman and 8 strikeouts. Prairie had 9 hits with Bruner collecting 2 singles and an RBI. Schumacher also had a pair of singles. Anderson had a 2-run double. Hinkelman, Arnzen and Mager each had a single and an RBI. Perrin also had a single. Prairie 0 0 0 0 4 0 3—7 9 2 Genesee 0 0 0 2 2 0 1—5 7 1 Prairie meanwhile was limited to just 1 hit and 3 walks in the first 3 innings before finally breaking through in the fourth as Genesee’s Garrett Borth suddenly got wild. Mager was hit by a pitch leading off the inning and Perrin and Schumacher were both walked to load the bases. After a strikeout Bruegeman forced Perrin at third but Mager was able to beat the throw home and score Prairie’s first run. Bruner then crushed a double to the left center gap scoring both Schumacher and Bruegeman to cut t  he
deficit to 3-6. Anderson walked then Hinkelman doubled home both Bruner
and Anderson to get Prairie back in the game at 5-6. Genesee changed pitchers
after Hinkelman’s double and got out of the inning.
Schumacher put a zero on the board in the fifth thanks to some great defensive plays. A single and an error on a bunt attempt had put runners on first and second with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners over. Schumacher then picked off the runner at second for the second out. The next hitter hit a sinking fly ball toward right center that Bruner was able to run down and he made a great diving catch to end the inning.. Mager hit a slow grounder toward second but the first baseman also went after the ball and Mager was able to beat the second baseman to the bag for an infield hit. After two outs, Jayce Huling, pinch-hitting for Bobby Hood, drew a walk. Bruegeman then singled to left to bring home Mager with the tying run. Genesee went back on top in the sixth as a walk, single and double opened the inning with a run scoring. Schumacher got a pair of outs then fielded a ground ball to his right off the mound, turned and airmailed the throw past Arnzen. 2 runs scored and the batter wound up at third. Schumacher gathered himself and struck out the next hitter to end the inning. In the bottom of the sixth after a leadoff out, Prairie got to Genesee’s second pitcher of the game. Hinkelman singled and Arnzen walked. A balk moved the runners up and then Mager was walked to load the bases. Perrin then unloaded the bases with a 3-run double to right that tied the game at 9-9. Schumacher then singled to right to score Perrin. After a strikeout another balk was called moving Schumacher to second. Bruegeman walked. A new pitcher came in to face Bruner who hit a grounder that took a bad hop just as it got to the second baseman for a single that scored Schumacher. Bruegeman got thrown out at third on the play to end the inning but Prairie was now up 11-9 heading into the seventh. Schumacher started well with a strikeout but then walked the next two batters and Mager was brought in to try and finish the game. An infield singled loaded the bases and a hit batsman brought in a run. Another infield single scored the tying run and the go ahead run scored on an error when Prairie tried to get the force at home. Mager got out of the inning when they converted a pitcher to home to first double play on a comebacker to Mager. Now down 11-12, Prairie had a chance for a walkoff win. Anderson led off the inning by drawing a 4-pitch walk and then went to second on a wild pitch. Hinkelman singled to left to bring home Anderson with the tying run. Arnzen walked, sending Hinkelman to second. Mager then bunted back to the pitcher’s left who was undecided as to where to throw the ball. He wound up turning and throwing the ball over the first baseman’s head, which allowed Hinkelman to score the game-winning run. Schumacher gave up 11 runs on 11 hits with 6 walks, 1 hit batsman and 8 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. Mager wound up getting the win while allowing 1 run on 2 hits with 1 hit batsman in 2/3 innings. Prairie had 9 hits with Hinkelman collecting a double and 2 singles and 3 RBI. Bruner had a double and a single and 3 RBI. Perrin had a double and 3 RBI. Bruegeman and Schumacher each had a single and an RBI and Mager had a single. Genesee 1 4 0 1 0 3 3—12 13 3 Prairie 0 0 0 5 1 5 2—13 9 3 The reason it was an 11-run final margin is because Hinkelman ended the game with a 2-run homer. Earlier in the game Arnzen also hit a 2-run homer, the first of his high school career. Daniel Mager again dominated Troy on the mound allowing just 2 runs on 3 hits. Troy got to Mager for a run in each of the first 2 innings and led 1-2 after 2½ innings in what was shaping up to be another pitcher’s duel but Prairie came up with 5 runs in the third to break the game open. They added 2 more in the fourth and then added 5 in the bottom of the fifth to end it. Prairie had 9 hits in the game led by Anderson who had a double and 2 singles. Hinkelman and Arnzen each had a homer. Mager and Perrin each had a double and Bruner and Hood each had a single. Troy 1 1 0 0 0— 2 3 7 Prairie 1 0 5 2 5—13 9 2 Schumacher pitched the first two innings allowing that leadoff walk while striking out 5 batters. Mager pitched the third inning and struck out the side. Bruner pitched the fourth inning and also struck out the side. Bruegeman pitched the fifth inning and had 2 strikeouts and a foul popup to the catcher. In all, 13 of the 15 outs were strikeouts with a string of 11 in a row at one point. In the final inning with Bruegeman, a senior, on the mound, Prairie had an all-senior infield with Hood at first, Thomas Schwartz at second, Hinkelman at shortstop and Bruner at third. The other senior on the team, Mager, was in centerfield. Offensively Prairie had their way with the Indians scoring 10 runs each in the first and second innings, 3 in the third and 5 in the fifth. Prairie pounded out 15 hits. Bruegeman had a pair of triples and actually circled the bases on the first one as the throw back in got away for an error. Hinkelman had a triple and 2 singles. Bruner had a double and 2 singles. Hood had 3 singles. Mager had a triple. Anderson, Arnzen and Luke Schwartz each had a single. Prairie also benefited from 7 errors, 8 walks and 7 hit batsmen. Anderson and Mager each got on base 4 different ways, via hit, walk, error and hit batsman. Anderson wound up getting hit by a pitch two different times as did Hinkelman. Prairie finishes the regular season with a perfect 12-0 league record and a 14-4 overall record. They will open district play at 11 a.m. Friday, May 13 at Orofino. Nezperce 0 0 0 0 0— 0 0 7 Prairie 10 10 3 5 x—28 15 0
2016 Prairie Baseball MARCH 17-at Kamiah, 4 p.m.*, won 3-2 22-at C.V., 4 p.m.*, postponed due to wet field 24-at Colton, 4 p.m., cancelled due to weather 8-9-Glenns Ferry Tournament, TBA, lost to Malad 3-5; beat Soda Springs 7-6; lost to Nampa Christian 4-16 15-Kamiah, there, 4 p.m.*, rescheduled from 4/12, won 7-0 16-Potlatch, here (2), noon*, won 18-8 and 14-1 19-at Grangeville, V/JV, 4 p.m., lost 5-15 21-C.V., there, 4 p.m.*, 2 games, won 11-0, won 11-1 26-at Nezperce, 4 p.m.*, won 19-0 28-at Troy, 4 p.m.*, won 3-1 5-Troy, here, 4 p.m., won 13-2 9-Nezperce, here, 4 p.m., won 28-0 13-14-District at Orofino, Play Genesee at 11 a.m. Friday, May 13 20-21-State at Caldwell |
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