Prairiland Patriots Sweep Rains Wildcats || Content Sponsored by: Weezy’s

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The Prairiland Patriots scored 5 runs in the top of the 8th inning, and then survived a wild bottom of the 8th to defeat Rains 10-7 and complete a series sweep of the Wildcats.

The win was Prairiland’s first at Rains since 2022, and was the Patriots’ first series sweep of the Wildcats since the two schools became district foes in 2019. The Patriots improved to 5-1 in district play and trail only Mount Vernon (6-0) who defeated Winnsboro (2-4) 11-8 Friday. Rains fell to 2-2.

With the score tied 5-5 in the 8th, Patriot Mason Pusateri led off the inning with a walk, stole second, and was moved to third based on another perfectly executed sacrifice bunt, this one by Madox Yaross. Keeton Kinabrew ripped the first pitch of his at-bat into center field, plating Pusateri and putting the Patriots up 6-5.

The Patriots loaded the bases after Fischer Morrison walked and Wyatt Moore reached on an error. Jayden Whitaker delivered the big blow of the inning, lining a single up the middle to plate Morrison and pinch runner Adam Anderson, extending the lead to 8-5.

Senior right fielder Dakota Berquist followed with a single to drive in Moore, and two batters later, Whitaker scored on a ground ball by Austen Gordon to give the Patriots what seemed like comfortable 5-run lead heading to the bottom of the inning and needing just three outs to secure the win.

With one out recorded, Prairiland’s normally sure-handed defense committed errors on three consecutive plays, and suddenly Rains had trimmed a 5-run deficit to 10-7.

After a flyout to Berquist in right field, a walked batter put the Patriots in a precarious situation. The Wildcats had the bases loaded with the potential winning run at the plate. In addition, Kinabrew, who had come on in relief and held the Wildcats scoreless through the 4 previous innings, reached his pitch limit during the at bat.

Patriots head coach Tony Sanders handed the ball to freshman Jack Phillips who quickly got two strikes on Rains’ Memphis McNew. Two pitches later McNew launched one deep into left field, but Moore, Prairiland’s speedy left fielder, ran it down at the warning track, preserving the Patriots’ win.

Prairiland started the contest in complete control of the Wildcats hitters. For the first two innings, Patriots pitcher Luke Rhoades was simply overpowering. The hard-throwing righty struck out 6 of the first batters he faced, including 5 straight to start the game.

The Patriots grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Pusateri drove in Anderson and Gordon with a double to center field.

Rains, one of the better hitting teams in the district, came to life in the third inning, sending 11 batters to the plate. The Wildcats had three singles, a couple of sacrifices, and took advantage of five walked batters to rally for a 5-2 lead.

Over the course of the season, Sanders’ Patriots squad had learned to be resilient. That was proven once again in the Top of the 4th inning as Prairiland fought back and retied the game 5-5.

Fischer Morrison started the fourth with a double, crushing the first pitch of the inning off the left field wall. Moore drew a base on balls and Whitaker was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Designated hitter DJ Leddbetter then dropped a bloop single into no man’s land in shallow right field to plate Morrison.

A walked to Gordon forced in the Patriots’ fourth run of the game. And Pusateri tied the game 5-5 when his ground ball was enough to drive in Whitaker.

Although the Patriots defense stumbled in the 8th inning; it had come up with big plays to reach that point. In the Rains half of the fourth, Pusateri tracked down a deep fly ball to center field for the first out. And then on consecutive pitches, third-baseman Yaross made a nice grab on a foul ball drifting toward the fence down the left field line, and first-baseman Morrison nabbed another Rains pop foul on an all-out sprint just in front of the railing of the Patriots dugout.

It was the Wildcats defense that flashed the leather in the 6th inning to keep the game tied. With Pusateri on second, and two outs, Kinabrew smoked a deep drive that Rains left fielder David Springer caught on the dead run with his back to home plate, robbing the Patriots junior of sure extra bases and ending the inning.

The Patriots loaded the bases in the top of the 7th but were unable to score. In the bottom of the 7th with the heart of the Wildcats lineup due to bat, Rains had runners at second and third base with no outs. But a strikeout, infield popup, and ground ball to Whitaker at second, ended the threat, setting the stage for the wild 8th inning finish.

Next week, the Patriots have games against cross-county rival Chisum, who had a break from district play this week. Tuesday’s game is scheduled to be at Prairiland, and Friday the teams will meet at Chisum, barring any changes due to weather. First pitch for both contests is set for 7:00.

Mt. Vernon 6-0

Prairiland 5-1

Rains 2-2

Winnsboro 2-4

Lone Oak 2-4

Chisum 1-3

Commerce 0-4