Prescott Pirates Baseball

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.