Benson, Porter key Prairie sweep
LOREN BENOIT/PressPrairie second baseman Jake Elliot catches the ball and throws to first for the double play during a game against the Lewis-Clark Twins Wednesday evening at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Prairie’s Preston Benson high-fives his coach, Pat Call, after hitting his second home run of the game against Lewis-Clark Wednesday afternoon at Post Falls High School.
POST FALLS — Preston Benson homered twice and finished with four RBIs in the first game and had two hits in the nightcap, sparking the Prairie Cardinals to a 8-4 and 8-7 sweep of the Lewis-Clark Twins in a Class AA North Idaho League matchup on Wednesday at Post Falls High.
Jared Porter allowed six hits and struck out seven in the opener for Prairie, which scored seven runs in the sixth inning to rally for the win.
“Porter and Benson were really good today,” Prairie coach Pat Call said. “They came up big. We hit the ball good today and when we needed a key hit to score some runs, we got it. Lewis-Clark is really good, and we just outscored them today.
Benson drove in the tying run in the seventh, then scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the second game.
Matt Fleming and Sam Schulze had two hits each for Prairie (11-12, 3-5 NIL), which faces the Spokane Bandits next Wednesday at West Valley High.
“We played pretty good in the second game,” Call said. “We walked a few too many guys, but our outfield just made plays and we got hits when we needed them. Preston had a heck of a day today. One he won’t forget for a while.”
FIRST GAME
Lewis-Clark 103 000 0 — 4 6 3
Prairie 000 017 x — 8 6 2
Lewis-Clark battery unavailable; Jared Porter and Seth Villanpando. W — Porter.
HITS: L-C — Way, Davis 3, Phillips, Way. Pra — Elliott, Villanpando, Porter, Benson 3. 2B — Way. HR — Benson 2.
SECOND GAME
Lewis-Clark 010 150 0 — 7 6 0
Prairie 150 000 2 — 8 9 2
Lewis-Clark battery unavailable; Brock Zeller, Matt Fleming (5) and Sam Schulze. W — Fleming.
HITS: L-C — Way, Light, Phillips, Robinson, Washburn, Schoults. Pra — Elliott, Villanpando, McCliment-Call, Benson 2, Fleming 2, Schulze 2. 2B — Way, Light, Benson, Schulze.
Northern Lakes 8-6
Coeur d’Alene 7-14
RATHDRUM — Dylan Bradbury drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Mountaineers, who spilt at North Idaho League Single-A matchup with the Lumbermen at Gorton Field.
Bradbury, Ryan Pote and Jack McDonald drove in two runs each for Northern Lakes in the opener.
Carter Friesz had two RBIs in the first game for Coeur d’Alene.
Mike Dooley and Zach Sensel had three RBIs each for Coeur d’Alene (28-9-1) in the nightcap.
Joe Streitzel had two RBIs for Northern Lakes (20-10), which plays at Sandpoint tonight in a continuation of a game that was rained out on June 28.