Priest River defeated by Lakeland JV in regular season finale; awaits District 2A tournament

PRIEST RIVER — The Spartan softball team lost Monday to Lakeland’s junior varsity team, 20-6 at the Priest River Junior High softball field.

After an interesting week filled with schedule changes, the Spartans were able to put together a game on the fly before competing in the 2A district tournament on Wednesday, May 9, and Thursday, May 10. Over the past week, Priest River’s doubleheaders versus Newport and Selkirk, and a single game against Kellogg were all canceled.

Earlier in the season, Priest River beat Sandpoint’s junior varsity team 18-8, but were unable to take down another 4A school in Monday’s contest. Lakeland’s JV is 21-0 this season.

The Spartans struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Jaylein Zylstra hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Rylee Hansen. Priest River was unable to score again until the fourth inning; by then, the Hawks had amassed a 15-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Spartans were able to score three runs. Madilyn Rose hit an RBI groundout; Kae Brown then followed with an RBI double to left field. Mackenzie Wardwell rounded out the scoring with a single to center.

By the time the fifth inning came around, the Spartans were not able to escape the 10-run rule but did score two more runs thanks to a double by Zylstra and an RBI groundout by Addison Kingery, 20-6 Hawks.

Zylstra was the only Spartan with multiple hits and RBIs in the contest. She went 2-for-2 with a single, a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Zylstra also pitched three innings on the mound giving up seven hits, 11 runs (zero earned), one walk, and one strikeout.

LAKELAND JV 20, PRIEST RIVER 6

LAKELAND – 056 45 – 20 12 2

PRIEST RIVER – 100 32 – 6 7 10

Game called in 5th inning due to 10-run rule.

HITS: PR – Zylstra 2, Brown, Schmidt, B. Hansen, Kingery, Wardwell. LHS – Briggs 2, Barnes, Holte, Laird, Williams, Evans, Ryckman, Gurney, Kelley.

2B – Zylstra, Brown. 3B – Kelley.