Priest River 8, St. Maries 3

PRIEST RIVER — Sophomore Broden Collins was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and three stolen bases, freshman Jacob Best struck out six of the eight batters he faced to close out the game, and the host Spartans defeated the Lumberjacks for the first time since 2014 in their season opener Friday at Priest River Junior High.

Down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning, Priest River put up a 4-spot to take control. Freshman Karsen Garvin brought home freshman Layton Goins, who was 2-for-3 with two singles, an RBI and three stolen bases on the day, via a groundout while freshman Madden Redinger stole home to knot the game up at 2. Following a pair of Spartan singles, Collins then hit a two-run single to center to build the lead to 4-2.

In the third, Goins hit an RBI single to right extend the lead to 5-2 while sophomore Dave Findley knocked an RBI double in the fifth to make it 6-3 ball game. Sophomore Colton Kuprienko, who was 3-for-3 with three singles, made it 7-3 score in the fifth with an RBI single to left. Collins then stole home in the sixth to add on an insurance run as the Spartans held on for the 5-run 3A Central Idaho League victory.

Priest River totaled 13 hits in the contest compared to St. Maries' six.

In addition to Best's great relief performance on the mound, sophomore Brayden Elder threw 1.2 innings in relief, giving up just two hits and striking out one batter. Collins and Priest River junior captain Logan Troumbley, who got the nod, combined to throw a solid first three innings to start the game off on the right foot.

It's the first time Priest River was able to celebrate with a win since March 31, 2022 when they defeated Newport 11-4.

Priest River (1-0) will look to keep things rolling Saturday when they travel to Orofino for a doubleheader.

St. Maries 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 — 3 6 1

Priest River 0 4 1 0 2 1 X — 8 13 1

PITCHING

PR — Troumbley: 1.1 IP, 1H, 1ER, 2BB, 1K. Collins: 1.2 IP, 2H, 1ER, 2BB, 1K. Elder: 1.2 IP, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, 1K. Best: 2.1 IP, 1H, 0ER, 0BB, 6K. SM — K. Brusseau: 4.2 IP, 11H, 3ER, 2BB, 5. Hammons: 1.1 IP, 2H, 1ER, 0BB, 0K.

BATTING

HITS: PR — Kuprienko 3, Collins 3, Goins 2, Paschetag 1, Troumbley 1, Best 1, Findley 1, Elder 1. SM — McMurrian 3, Lingo 2, Brown 1.

2B — Findley.

RBI: PR — Collins 2, Kuprienko 1, Findley 1, Goins 1, Garvin 1. SM — Hammons 1, Blackwell 1.