Prairie notches three wins over Cranbrook
POST FALLS - One big inning in each game propelled the Prairie Cardinals to three victories over the Cranbrook Bandits in class AA North Idaho League play Sunday at Post Falls High.
Prairie scored eight runs in the fifth inning of an 11-1 win, the completion of a game suspended by rain last Sunday in Cranbrook, British Columbia.
The Cardinals then scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to snap a 4-4 tie and win 11-4 in the first game of the regularly scheduled doubleheader. In the second game, Prairie scored seven runs in the first inning and went on to win 10-4 to complete the sweep.
"It's like we go flat until that one hit ignites us," Prairie coach Dustin Frank said of the big innings. "I definitely think we need to be more consistent. To beat the teams we need to beat to go to state, we need to play the full seven innings."
Prairie (4-4, 4-4 NIL) led last week's game 3-1 after four innings when it was stopped by rain. When it resumed on Sunday, Darnell Metcalf and Tony Davidson hit two-run singles to highlight the eight-run fifth.
In the next game, Cody VanDuyne was hit by a pitch to start the sixth inning, and scored on an error to break the 4-all tie. Zack Reeder followed with a two-run double, then scored on Nick Leva's single.
Jordan Armstrong hit two solo homers for Cranbrook (2-15, 0-10).
In the last game, Derek Tymesen hit a two-run double and Leva added a two-run single in the big first inning for Prairie.
"We swung the bat well; we were more aggressive at the plate," Frank said.
The Cardinals play host to the Spokane Cannons today in a nine-inning single game at 4:30 p.m. at Post Falls High.
Also, Prairie's class A team went 4-0 over the weekend and won the championship of the St. Maries tournament.
SUSPENDED GAME
Prairie 201 08 - 11 12 1
Cranbrook 100 00 - 1 3 1
Game called after 5 innings due to 10-run rule.
Cody Vandever, Connor Peery (5) and Cody VanDuyne; Ryan Phillips and Bryce Johnson. W - Vandever (1-0). L - Phillips.
HITS: Pra - VanDuyne 2, Berger 2, Tymesen, Metcalf, Vandever, Leva, Whitesitt 2, Davidson 2. Cran - Juricic 2, Bone. 2B - VanDuyne, Metcalf, Leva, Whitesitt.
FIRST GAME
Cranbrook 002 110 0 - 4 8 2
Prairie 012 107 x - 11 9 2
Jason Blackburn and Jesse Thies; Kostas Garcia, Daniel Whitesitt (5) and Cody VanDuyne. W - Whitesitt (1-0). L - Blackburn.
HITS: Cran - Vondracek 2, McCallum 2, Bone, Armstrong 2, Durban. Pra - VanDuyne 2, South, Shaffer, Reeder 2, Coleman, Greiser, Tymesen. 2B - McCallum, VanDuyne, Reeder 2, Tymesen. HR - Armstrong 2.
SECOND GAME
Cranbrook 002 200 0 - 4 6 2
Prairie 710 200 x - 10 12 7
Ryan Phillips, T.J. Bone (5) and Jesse Thies; Tyler Shaffer and Zach Reeder. W - Shaffer (1-0). L - Phillips.
HITS: Cran - Juricic, McCallum, R. Johnson, Bone, Durban 2. Pra - Berger, South, Reeder 2, Tymesen 2, Metcalf 2, Leva 3, Davidson. 2B - R. Johnson, Bone, South, Tymesen 2, Leva 2.