Priest River 7, Kellogg 1

PRIEST RIVER — Hosting their first-ever district tournament game in program history, the pressure was on, but Priest River delivered.

Junior Brayden Elder fueled the offense with a pair of RBI doubles and was credited with the win on the bump, striking out three batters across three quality innings, and the No. 2 Spartans capitalized with runners in scoring position as they bested the No. 3 Wildcats during a 3A District 1-2 opening round game held Wednesday at the fields at Priest River Junior High.

Elder, who lowered his season ERA to 4.20 and improved his record to 3-0 with his effort on the rubber, got the scoring started in the bottom of the first when he laced his seventh career double to left field. Two at-bats later, sophomore Jacob Best, who also played a key role in the victory, scored Elder via a double to deep center field to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead. During the next at-bat, junior Broden Collins decided to follow suit as he hit an RBI double of his own to straightaway center on an 0-2 count to push the Priest River lead to 3-1.

It was all about consistency from there on out as the Spartans scored one run apiece over the next four innings. In the second, back-to-back singles by sophomore Layton Goins and junior Triston Wikum presented Elder with another opportunity, and he didn't disappoint, smashing his eighth career double to center field to score Wikum. In the third, senior Brady Hatten, a Rocky Mountain College commit for football, doubled to center. This time, it was sophomore P.J. Paschetag who connected on an 0-2 pitch, smacking an RBI single to left field to score Hatten.

The Spartans tacked on runs via a sacrifice fly by junior Colton Kuprienko in the fourth, and in the fifth, junior Donovan Baldwin hustled down the line and reached safely on an error, scoring Hatten to give Priest River a 7-1 lead, which they maintained thanks to a gem of a performance by Best on the mound.

Best, who owns a 1.49 ERA on the season, threw 37 of his 56 pitches for strikes across four innings of work, striking out nine of the 14 batters he faced — seven of which were swinging.

Bob Liddicoat had a single and was responsible for Kellogg's lone RBI in the loss. The Wildcats (4-17) will face No. 4 St. Maries (4-12) in a 3A District 1-2 loser-out game on Friday at 12 p.m. at Orofino High.

Goins had a game-high three stolen bases, including the 30th of his career, for Priest River (13-4), which gave head coach Jeff Best his second district tournament win in as many years. The Spartans will face No. 1 Orofino (18-3), which beat the Lumberjacks 11-1 on Wednesday, in the 3A District 1-2 Championship game on Friday at 2 p.m. at Orofino High. The winner will advance to a 3A Super Regional while the loser will head to a 3A District 1-2 loser-out game against the winner of Kellogg-St. Maries.

Kellogg 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 3 4

Priest River 3 1 1 1 1 0 X — 7 10 2

PITCHING

PR — Elder (W): 3IP, 3H, 1R (1ER), 4BB, 3K. Best: 4IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 9K. KLG — Keller: 4IP, 10H, 7R (5ER), 0BB, 1K. Larson: 1.2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K. Graaskamp: 0.1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K.

BATTING

HITS: PR — Goins 2, Elder 2, Collins 2, Best 1, Paschetag 1, Hatten 1, Wikum 1. KLG — Graaskamp 1, Liddicoat 1, Keller 1. 2B — Elder 2, Collins, Hatten, Best.  RBI: PR — Elder 2, Kuprienko 1, Best 1, Collins 1, Paschetag 1. KLG — Liddicoat 1.

    Priest River High sophomore Layton Goins makes a diving catch in center field during Wednesday's 3A District 1-2 tournament game at the fields at Priest River Junior High.