The Prairie Falcons baseball team peaked in their biggest series of the season against 3A Greater St. Helens League rival Kelso High School last week.
The name of the game for Prairie High School in the series was dominating the rubber. Their pitchers only gave up nine hits in the three games, including a combined no-hitter.
The Falcons started off with a commanding 8-0 win over the Hilanders on Monday, April 28. Prairie senior Issac Watson threw a complete game, giving up just three hits, two walks and striking out three in the 8-0 win.
On Tuesday, April 29, the Falcons’ pitching was lights out with a combined no-hitter by Michael Rovig and Maddux Blunt in the 1-0 win. Rovig threw for six innings, striking out six and walking just one batter while Blunt came in for the close with a strikeout and walk.
“He’s a competitor and we had a lot of confidence in him,” Prairie head coach Shane Sullivan said of Rovig. “Coming into this game, he’s been getting his work in all season long, going through the process, and he was prepared to come out here and deliver, and that’s exactly what he did. He’s had a knack for rising up in key moments and he delivered again today.”
Rovig’s pitching efforts kept the Falcons in the game against a star pitcher in Bryce Collins, a junior from Kelso already committed to the 2022 NCAA Division I national champs, Ole Miss.
In the seventh inning, the Falcons started off with a single to right field by Jake Drogos, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Issac Watson.
Drogos advanced to third on a wild pitch after Kelso’s Collins recorded two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Kishon Brown walked to have runners at the corners. Cam McCray came up to the plate with a runner at third. With a one-one count, he roped a single to right field and Drogos jogged to home to complete the 1-0 win.
Although Brown never reached second base during the walk-off hit from McCray, meaning Kelso could have advanced the game into extra innings with a force out at second, but they left the field of play as a whole, and so did the umpires once Kelso huddled up before the handshake line, nullifying the opportunity to extend the game at 0-0.
The series win was obtained after two games against Kelso put the Falcons in a likely position to take the league title, but the finishing touch was completed on Thursday, May 1, with a 4-2 win on the road for the series sweep of the Hilanders.
After the series with Kelso, the Falcons sat in league at 10-1 in the 3A GSHL, but finished off the league slate against the Heritage Timberwolves on Monday, May 5, after the game was canceled earlier in the schedule. Results were unavailable at press time.
