PRESCOTT — The Prescott Pirates picked up a pair of wins over Pierce County opponents over the weekend, taking down the Ellsworth Hubbers 5-0 Saturday before a scrappy 6-3 win over the Plum City Blues on Sunday.

Against the Blues, the first four innings were mostly quiet for the Pirates, scoring one run courtesy of a Dylan Gausman sacrifice fly. There were chances at a rally here and there, but the Blues ultimately shut them down before much damage was caused.

“The biggest thing for us is timely hitting, and we’ve struggled a little bit with it,” player/manager Billy Brookshaw said. “We’ve had some games where we’ve had a lot of hits but only one or two runs to show for it.”

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Pirates finally struck back. A bases loaded single by Phil Seifert and a wild pitch would tie the game 3-3. The damage was not done yet as Brady Block sent an RBI single to right field and Cullen Huppert smacked a two-RBI double to bring the lead to 6-3.

“We had some balls that fell, just in-betweeners, that we haven’t been getting. That’s the biggest thing,” Brookshaw said. “If you’re putting the ball in play, hitting it hard, that’s where you do your best.”

Sunday’s game started with seven three-run innings from Spencer Schroeder on the mound before Gausman closed things with a pair of shutout innings.

Giving up three runs in a pair of games over the weekend, Brookshaw has been impressed with the pitching and defense from the Pirates as of late. Brookshaw said the pitching staff trusts the defense, throws strikes and mixes up their pitches.

“They throw strikes really well,” Brookshaw said. “We have a good defense. We do pretty good on most games as far as not having a bunch of errors, and they know that.”

For the Pirates, Brookshaw said the team is going to have to find the identity of scratching across runs any way they can, and Sunday was the first step toward it.

“We’re not going to come out there and crush the ball. We’re not going to go out there and get 18 hits in a game,” Brookshaw said. “We’re going to have to bunt when we have to, we’re going to have to put the ball in play, not strike out as much as possible and just kind of scrap them through.”
“That’s the only reason we won the game today,” Brookshaw said. “If we’re not scrappy and at least putting it in play, we’re going to have a lot of trouble.”

Prescott hits the road for a game in Spring Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday and in Bay City at 1 p.m. Saturday during the coming week. The Blues are also slated for a pair of road games, taking on Osceola at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Hudson at 1 p.m. Sunday.