Fastpitch: Prairie's Five-Run Fifth Inning Propels Falcons To Road Win

3/28/25

Prairie Falcons – 10/14/2
W.F. West Bearcats – 5/8/4

(Chehalis, WA) The season is still early, and with a wild week of weather, this non-league matchup between the Prairie Falcons and the W.F. West Bearcats had multiple elements to deal with. Both teams are reigning District Champions but weren’t able to bring home hardware at their respective State Tournaments. That has added even more motivation to the talented sides, and they each showcased their talent on Thursday from Lady Bearcat Stadium.

Prairie got their bats started from the get-go, with their first four batters reaching base. Kayla Scholl came around to score the game’s opening run with one out to give Prairie a 1-0 lead. W.F. West made some nice plays in the middle infield to get back-to-back outs as Prairie had runners on first and second but held them to just one first-inning run. W.F. West countered with a pair of two-out singles but couldn’t cash in as Prairie held a one-run lead after the first inning.

Prairie again led off by getting a base runner as Kylie Moore drew a walk. The Falcons quickly got two outs, but the top of the order delivered in a big way. Mackenzie Moore had an RBI single, followed up by Kayla Scholl with an RBI single. After a walk, Carlie Palmer had an RBI single also, to make it a 4-0 lead in the top of the second. W.F. West responded with back-to-back doubles from Gracie Elam and Monroe Dalrymple. Taylor Tobin walked to load up the bases, where Tanner Tobin got a sac fly to drive in the Bearcats first run. Addison Froschauer smacked a 2 RBI single to make it 4-3 with Prairie still leading. The Falcons made a pitching change and brought in Mackenzie Moore to the mound. Moore would record a strikeout to get the third out and preserve the one-run lead.

The third and fourth innings were defense-dominated, with both pitchers and the defenses slowing down the offenses in the middle portion of the game. Prairie still held a 4-3 lead through four innings of play.

Prairie started the fifth inning with three singles in a row from Carlie Palmer, Ashlee Porter, and Payton Miller to load up the bases with no outs. Kylie Moore had a sacrifice fly to drive in a run for the Falcons to make it 5-3 with one out. After a strikeout, Prairie had two outs and two runners on for catcher, Kellie Cady. Cady on the second pitch she saw, blasted the ball into right-center field and over the fence for a three-run home run to give the Falcons an 8-3 lead. Prairie’s Mackenzie Moore got on with a single, and then Kayla Scholl drove her in with an RBI single. Prairie sent two more batters to the plate but didn’t score as their five-run fifth inning gave them a 9-3 lead.

The Falcons held W.F. West scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings and, in the seventh inning, added a run as Mackenzie Moore hit her fifth single of the game and came around to score on a Kayla Scholl RBI single to make it 10-3 with Prairie on top. In the bottom of the seventh, W.F. West loaded up the bases after back-to-back singles from Tanner Tobin and Addison Froschauer, as well as a walk drawn by Avalon Myers. Karlee Coleman had an RBI single and Rayah Middleton added another RBI single to quickly cut Prairie’s lead down to 10-5, as the bases remained loaded with no outs. Prairie’s Mackenzie Moore struck out the final three batters for her 14th strikeout in relief, to secure the victory for Prairie, 10-5.

Prairie improves to 4-2 on the season and will host Camas on April 8 in their next game.

W.F. West drops to 3-2 on the year and will face Shelton at home on Monday.

Our Thorbeckes Game MVP went to Prairie’s Mackenzie Moore, who did a little bit of everything for the Falcons. At the plate, she went 5-5, with five singles, three runs scored, and an RBI. She started at second base defensively before sliding over to the mound, where she recorded 14 strikeouts and controlled the game the majority of her time on the mound. Her sensational all-around performance gives her Game MVP honors, with a shoutout to Kellie Cady for hitting a home run in the fifth inning.

Click here for the link to the full game replay. (Subscription Required)