STRUTHERS–Perry’s offense found its groove early—and often—in a 10-1 win over Berkshire in an All-Chagrin Valley Conference district semifinal at Bob Cene Park on Monday.
The Pirates jumped on the Badgers early, scoring four runs in the first inning and added two more in the second, third, and fourth innings on the way to securing their 20th win of the season.
“We just battled in every at-bat,” said Perry coach Matt Platt. “Multiple of our hits came with two strikes. We were just finding good barrel to the ball and that’s what worked for us tonight.”
Perry’s four-run first began with Owen McKoon taking first base after being hit by a pitch. Sam Tharp singled him home for a 1-0 lead, and Cade Henderson and Trent Taylor then delivered clutch RBI doubles to left field, each bringing in a run. Taylor advanced to third base on an error and later scored on another error, extending Perry’s lead to 4-0.
Jason Pentek singled to lead off the second for Perry, and Tharp drove him in with another RBI single. Henderson reached on an error that allowed Tharp to score Perry’s sixth run of the game.
Berkshire pulled to within 6-1 with a run in the top of the third when Sam Barcikoski singled and scored on Ethan Martin’s RBI double.
The Pirates answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Pentek and Henderson both had RBI singles in the inning.
Perry closed out the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the fourth with Pentek connecting on another RBI single that scored Brody Petrucelli and Luke Sivon singled home Pentek.
Adding to Perry’s offensive output was the success the Pirates had on the basepaths.
Perry stole seven bases with Pentek and Sivon each swiping a pair.
“Any team that we play, we want to swipe bags and put pressure on them that way,” Platt said of Perry’s base-stealing. “It’s been our philosophy all year; luckily, we have the speed on the team to do that. Pressure helps, and sometimes you can get some hits, too. We have good instinctual base runners, and there’s just some flat speed (on this team).”
Logan Buehner picked up the pitching victory after allowing one earned run on two hits with nine strikeouts in six innings.
“He’s got great stuff on his pitches and he throws his pitches for strikes,” Platt said of Buehner. “By doing that, he can mix it up and keep them off balance. Berkshire does hit the ball well; Logan just had a good day today.”
Buehner credited his success to throwing strikes early in the count.
“I liked to get ahead early in the count so I can use my off-speed pitches as much as I can,” Buehner said. “My fastball was working really well today, and knowing I had a good defense around me, I knew I could throw it in the zone, and they’d have my back behind me in the field.”
Despite Perry’s early offensive success, Buehner threw his game.
“Knowing I have runs (of support) on the board doesn’t really change anything,” Buehner said. “I still go out there and throw like it’s a 0-0 game. (That mentality), It keeps me locked in on the mound. It keeps me from getting lazy out there, and then I just keep pounding the strike zone.”
Aiden Bowman shut the Badgers down in order in the seventh inning.
Pentek led the Pirate offense as he went 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored. Tharp and Henderson both finished 2-for-4 with two RBI each. Tharp scored two runs and Henderson crossed the plate once.
Taylor went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Sivon also picked up an RBI by going 1-for-3 at the dish.
Martin led Berkshire’s offense with two hits and one RBI. He also took the loss on the mound after allowing six earned runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Patrick Brancel tossed four innings of relief and gave up two runs on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Perry advanced to play LaBrae in Wednesday’s district championship game.
“We just have to stay with what we’ve been doing consistently,” Platt said of what it’ll take to win on Wednesday. “We play solid defense, we fill up the strike zone, and we got on base and put some pressure on. That’s been our recipe of success all year, and not much of that is going to change.”
