No doubt this was the result new coach Richard Powers was looking for from his new team.

The Plains Horsemen combined solid pitching, both starting and relief, with timely hitting and lots of it as they outscored Mission 14-8 last Thursday to pick up the first win in baseball program history.

In a season where baseball is new to Montana high schools, there will be lots of firsts.

In their season opener, pitcher Joseph Pullen struck out the first batter, Garth Parker drove in the first run and everything was new.

The missing ingredient for Powers’ young team was that elusive first win, having lost their first two games in lopsided fashion.

But Horsemen fans new this team had some talent and it was only a matter of time before they lit up the “W” column.

The game began looking for all intents and purpose like it would not be the win the Horsemen were seeking.

Mission/Arlee/Charlo or MAC as the tri-co-op is called, plated three runs in the bottom of the first on their home field after holding visiting Plains scoreless in the opening half of the inning.

Pullen gave up five hits in his three innings of work and surrendered four earned runs in the process, giving MAC a 4-0 lead by the end of the second inning.

But Plains struck back in the top of the third. After a quick ground out by the leadoff batter Allen Peters, Zander Czifro lined a double to left field. He then moved to third on a wild pitch.

Aiden West drew a base on balls. Both he and Czifro would score for the Horsemen, Czifro from third on a wild pitch, West on a double error by the Bulldogs. Sophomore Wyatt Butcher, who’s mishandled grounder led to the first two Plains run, stole third base, giving the Horsemen runners on first and third when Pullen walked.

Butcher scored on a sacrifice grounder, pulling the Horsemen within one, 4-3, by the end of the top half of the third.

MAC pushed across one run in the bottom of the third, boosting their lead to 5-3, but the Horsemen matched that with a solo run of their own in the top of inning number for.

Jody Page replaced Pullen on the mound in the fourth inning and held the Bulldogs scoreless.

In the top of the fifth, the offensive explosion Plains had been waiting for resulted in six runs that gave the Horsemen a 10-5 lead. Page got things rolling with a single, then moved along the base paths when Parker reached base on an error. Freshman Beau Crabb laced a single up the middle, scoring Page to tie the game at five each.

Parker scored on a dropped third strike with Will Tatum at bat.

Plains added four more runs on a pair of singles and a double by Butcher, who drove in two runs.

Mission fought back in the bottom of the fifth, adding three runs to trim the Plains lead to 10-8.

Parker then took the mound for the final two innings, and proceeded to strike out all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh while holding the home team hit-less and scoreless.

Plains added four insurance runs in the top of the sixth to produce the final score and give the Horsemen their first win of their first season.

Crabb went four-for-five at the plate with five total bases and one RBI. Plains picked up 10 hits for the game, and took advantage of unsteady Mission pitching that put 11 runners on base via walks. Mission had six hits for the game and committed five errors.

The win lifted Plains to 1-2 on the young, weather plagued season. They were scheduled to play last night (Monday, April 10) at home against Browning, then play another home game this Thursday, April 13 when they host the Polson Pirates, who are off to a 4-0 start so far this year.