Priest River softball off to best start since 2014

PRIEST RIVER — For just the second time in the last decade, the Spartans already have three wins after their first five games. Head coach Ron Kruse, in his seventh season as a varsity coach, is looking to take his team deep into the 2A playoffs this year.

The Spartans have beaten Sandpoint JV, and split both of their doubleheaders with Reardan and Newport thus far. Reardan and Newport are new opponents to Priest River this year.

“We have 19 girls in the program this year, and I think we are really going to be able to put this program back on track. A lot of our first-time players have performed well,” Kruse said.

Priest River had a great opener versus Sandpoint’s junior varsity team; they won 18-8 in five innings of play. The Spartans put up five runs in three of the four innings they batted. Rylee Hansen led the way with four RBIs while Jaylein Zylstra added two of her own.

In their first doubleheader of the season versus the Screaming Eagles of Reardan, the Spartans won Game 1, 18-14, and lost Game 2, 11-9. In Game 1, the Spartans were down 14-13 heading into the final inning, where they scored five runs. Subsequently, they shut out the Screaming Eagles in the bottom half of the inning to win 18-13. Freshman Lily Meyers received the win on the mound; she pitched six and two thirds of an inning, struck out five, and only gave up two earned runs in the outing.

“Lily has been fantastic so far this season. I’m excited to see what she can do going forward,” Kruse said.

In Game 2, the Spartans let up six runs combined in the fifth and sixth innings and were not able to make a comeback. Despite the loss, seven different Spartans recorded hits, which is what Kruse said he expects of his well-rounded offense. Faith Taylor and Cheyenne Thompson both had three hits in the loss.

In their first two home games of the season versus the Grizzlies, the Spartans split the series, 13-0, 5-23. It was a tale of two games, the first of which was one to remember and the latter game, one to forget.

In Game 1, Lily Meyers again showed off her skills as she pitched five pristine innings. She gave up two hits, no runs, and recorded five strikeouts. On the offensive side of things, The Spartans were also dominant. Brodie Hansen had two hits and four RBI’s; Cheyenne Thompson chipped in two hits and two RBI’s as well.

“This was the best game of my coaching career. Everything went according to plan,” Kruse said.

In Game 2, The Spartans ran out of steam as they committed ten errors and allowed fifteen hits. Brodie and Rylee Hansen were the lone bright spots; they had all four of the Spartans hits and three out of the team’s four RBI’s. Kruse said defense is one thing they will look to improve upon as the season progresses.

“I expected us to be in this spot at this point in the season. We have four seasoned seniors, and although we have a lot of first-time players, this team has good chemistry,” Kruse said.

The Spartans will head to Orofino for their first in-conference doubleheader on April 8.