Prescott Pirates Baseball

By Jason Strangis

The Prescott Pirates provided plenty of fireworks for their home fans last Sunday as they blasted Plum City 17-7 in seven innings.  The victory kept Prescott perfect in league play with a 10-0 record while boosting the team’s overall record to 13-2. It also kept Prescott undefeated at Firehall Field, where the Pirates are starting to feel almost invincible playing in their friendly confines.

Against Plum City, the Pirates got off to a fast start and took a 6-0 lead after the first inning. Many of Prescott’s runs were unearned, though, as Plum City committed several errors to give the Pirates early command.  But shortly after the Pirates had several defensive mistakes of their own, and the Blues scored five times in the second inning. Prescott made four errors in the inning and the Blues were suddenly right back in the game, trailing 6-5.

From there the Pirates settled down and started pulling away from their foes. Jared Powell got momentum back in Prescott’s favor when he hit a solo home run in the second inning and the Pirates were off and running.  Prescott added five more runs in the bottom of the fourth to lead 13-5. Billy Brookshaw highlighted the inning with a triple with two outs that scored two runs. Jim French knocked a double that scored two runs as well.  But the Pirates weren’t done tallying runs, coming up with two runs in the sixth inning and two more in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.

Overall, Prescott had 12 hits. Plum City went with three pitchers in the game, and all three struggled at times against Prescott’s strong offense.   Several Prescott players had impressive hitting performances. French stayed hot at the plate with three doubles. Logan Johnson smacked two doubles for the home team, and Brady Randolph had two hits and drove in a run.

Pitcher Eric Monson was on the mound for most of the game for Prescott. After Plum City scored five runs (many unearned) in the second inning to get back in the game, Monson held the Blues at bay the rest of the way, allowing just one more hit in six innings that he pitched.

By Jason Strangis

Slugger Jim French led the Prescott Pirates to a pair of big home wins last weekend.  On Saturday, French’s double in the sixth inning scored two runs and propelled Prescott to a 5-1 win over Ellsworth.  Then on Sunday, French provided late-game heroics with a three-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pirates a dramatic 6-4 victory at Firehall Field.

It was a great weekend for the Pirates, who climbed to 9-0 in St. Croix Valley League play and kept ahead of their division rivals. First up, Prescott avenged an early-season loss to Ellsworth in the Plum City tournament. The Hubbers dominated in Plum City with a 6-2 victory over Prescott in the championship game.

But for the rematch at Firehall Field, Pirates pitcher Eric Monson delivered a strong performance on the mound in Prescott’s 5-1 triumph. Monson, a hard-throwing lefthander, allowed just four hits the entire afternoon. He was backed up by solid defensive play from Prescott fielders.

Prescott took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Ellsworth tied the game on a solo home run by Jake Betthauser in the top of the fourth.  The Pirates scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to break things open, led by French’s clutch double.  Prescott added an insurance score in the eighth inning and held on from there.

Ellsworth (9-4 overall; 5-3 SCVL) had a chance to close the gap with Prescott in league play but the Pirates proved to be too strong that day.  One of Prescott’s leading hitters, Nick Johnson, said there is good rivalry between the Pirates and Hubbers.  “We are pretty evenly-matched teams,” said Johnson, who had three hits including a double against Ellsworth. Alex Ross added two hits with a double.

If the Pirates seemed pumped up and primed to beat longtime rival Ellsworth on Saturday, there was a much different vibe for Sunday’s game vs. the Elmwood Expos.

After failing to cash in on a good opportunity in the first inning, the Pirates fell behind Elmwood 4-0. Expos pitcher Cody Holden baffled Prescott batters for much of the afternoon and the Pirates were repeatedly frustrated at the plate.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Prescott finally got things going by scoring three times and closing the gap to just a run.

The score remained 4-3 in Elmwood’s favor until the bottom of the ninth. Jared Powell delivered a key one-out bloop single for Prescott, putting runners on first and second base with one out. French came up to the plate and knocked a pitch over the fence to help save the day for Prescott, giving the home team a feeling of relief as they stayed undefeated at Firehall Field this season.

While Prescott (12-2 overall) was playing with a different lineup compared to the previous day against Ellsworth, Pirates manager Brady Randolph credited Elmwood pitcher Cody Holden for a fine performance. Holden allowed just five hits the entire afternoon.  “He kept us off balance,” Randolph said.

Jesse Tollefson started on the mound for Prescott and allowed eight hits over seven innings.

By Jason Strangis

Three up, three down for the Prescott Pirates.  The Pirates went 3-0 last week to improve to 9-1 overall on the season. After beating Cannon Falls 4-2 and Osceola 5-2 on the road, the Pirates returned home last Sunday to face Hudson.

The bats were really cracking for the Pirates as they collected 14 hits in a 9-3 victory over the River Rats. Jared Powell highlighted the game as he hit a towering home run over the left-field fence to give Prescott a 4-1 lead in the third inning.  Alex Ross had a strong day at the plate with three hits including a double. Justin Tobias and Nick Johnson added two hits each with doubles, while Logan Johnson had a triple.  Jim French knocked out a double, and Mike Brookshaw also hit a double in his first appearance at the plate for the Pirates.

Prescott pitcher Jesse Tollefson kept Hudson in check for the first six innings before being relieved by Adam Barta, who preserved the victory.  Hudson had nine hits in the game but the River Rats were unable to put together any big scoring innings.

The Pirates, meanwhile, took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, and scored in every inning except the fourth.

To accomodate for the Prescott High School playoff game, Cannon Falls has agreed to move our game from Wednesday to Tuesday starting at 7:30.

By Jason Strangis

Local rivals Ellsworth and Prescott faced off against each other in the title game of the Plum City Memorial Weekend tournament. The Hubbers came out on top, beating the Pirates 6-2 to claim the eight-team championship.  It was Prescott’s first loss of the season after five straight wins. The Pirates started the Plum City tourney with an 8-5 comeback victory over the Menomonie Eagles on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles led 4-0 in the game and looked to be in control, but momentum changed in Prescott’s favor after a controversial call in the third inning led to four Prescott runs. After a double by Nick Johnson scored a run, Jared Powell launched a long ball toward the fence that was run down and snagged by Menomonie’s center fielder. But the umpire ruled he didn’t catch the fly ball, leading to a big inning for Prescott. Jim French and Ryan Burmeister drove in runs to tie the game 4-4 after three innings.

Menomonie added a run in the top of the fifth to go back in front 5-4, but the Pirates countered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to grab the lead for good.  In the top of the sixth inning, the Eagles had the bases loaded with two outs but failed to score. Prescott added two more insurance runs and held on for the victory.

The Pirates had six hits in the game but were helped by five errors from the Eagles.  Menomonie, meanwhile, had eight hits off Prescott pitcher Jesse Tollefson.

On Sunday, the Pirates had a much easier time in cruising past Elmwood 14-1. It was a total team effort as Burmeister, Austin Tulip, Jack Hintz and Michael Lytle led the way at the plate.  Pitcher Eric Monson threw five innings and allowed one hit.

In the championship game on Monday, the Pirates were finally beaten by Ellsworth. Adam Barta was on the mound for Prescott.

Other teams competing in Plum City were River Falls, Bay City, Hudson, and host Plum City.

Prescott traveled to Osceola this weekend to play in the WBA regional tournament starting against Onalaska Saturday.  We jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Jared Powell’s single that score Billy Brookshaw, who walked to lead off the game.  With the score still at 1-0, Brian Johnson came through with a 2 out single that scored Jim French after French doubled.  Rob Mouton started for the Pirates and battled the entire game.  Case in fact in the 4th when Onalaska had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, he struck out the side.  Adam Barta relieved Mouton in the 7th.  Unfortunately Jared Powell’s throwing error allowed Onalaska’s first run the score putting the score at 2-1.  Fortunately for the Pirates, that was the final score as Barta was able to wiggle out of the 9th to give victory.

Sunday the Pirates played Hallie, the number 2 seed in our bracket.  Jesse Tollefson started for the Pirates and gave up a run in the 2nd inning.  With the Pirates still down 1-0 in the 4th and Hallie had a runner on 2nd with no outs, Jake Kuschke picked off the runner after a failed bunt attempt, a big play in a close game.  In the bottom of the 4th, Jim French hit a two run HR to put the Pirates on the board and gave them the lead for good.  That swing turned the game entirely in the Pirates favor as it seemed like the offense started putting together better ABs.  After a couple other Pirate runs, Nick Johnson broke the game open in the bottom of the 6th with a three run triple that extended the lead to 7-2.   Barta again came in relief to finish the game and put the Pirates into the state tournament.

The Pirates are set to play River Falls Friday at 9 PM again in Osceola.  The atmosphere will be great as we play just after the Osceola/Sparta game.