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SALMON — The Priest River Spartans baseball team traveled more than 300 miles by bus for Super Regional play Friday and Saturday, May 9–10 at Salmon.
The long bus ride couldn’t have helped the Spartans, who were defeated twice by the Wendell Trojans.
Still, Priest River had a winning year, finishing with a 14-7 record.
“(I’m) really proud of our team’s first winning season in a long time,” Priest River coach Jeff Best says.
Priest River and Wendell played their first game Friday, when Wendell got a 10-2 win.
The Spartans scored a run in the first inning. Wendell scored a run in each of the second and third innings, with the Spartans catching up in the bottom of the third with a run of their own. But Wendell kept chipping away, scoring a run in the fourth and 2 in the fifth inning, while holding the Spartans scoreless. Wendel scored 5 runs in the sixth inning, while Priest River still couldn’t get a score. Both teams played a scoreless seventh inning and Wendell got the win.
Karson Garvin went 2-for-3 at bat, with an RBI. Jacob Best hit a double and had an RBI. Best also stole a base. Layton Goins had two stolen bases.
Wendell went on to be defeated by Salmon in the next game, putting the Spartans and Wendell in a loser-out game Saturday.
Seven errors proved costly for Priest River in that game, which they lost 17-7. Priest River went ahead 7-4 in the top of the fourth inning when the Spartans scored 4 runs. Wendell scored 13 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. That left the Spartans one more inning to avoid a 10-run mercy rule loss, but they didn’t manage any points and their season came to an end.
Best is looking forward to next year, which he expects to be even stronger, with some good freshmen players.
“We will retain most of our team, only losing one senior,” he says. He says the team was appreciative of their fans’ support.
“Thanks to everyone who supported the team this year!” Best says.
