Rams rally late, but fall to Perkins

BOWLING GREEN — Survive and advance. That's something you hear a lot at tournament time, and Perkins lived it Wednesday. The Pirates had 15 hits — six for extra bases — and led by six runs early in the game before sweating out a 10-8 win against Upper Sandusky in a Division IV regional semifinal at Warren E. Steller Field. Upper scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and had two runners on when Braxden Martin — who came on relief — got a strikeout and a popout to send the Pirates to the Elite Eight. Perkins (20-9) will play the Benedictine-Napoleon semifinal winner at 5 p.m. Thursday for a spot in the state semifinals. "It doesn't have to be pretty," Perkins coach TJ Blanton said. "They came back at the end, but we were two runs better and that's all that matters. It's one game at a time." Kash Koch started on the mound for the Pirates and went six-plus workmanlike innings. He threw four scoreless frames — including the first three — but Upper got to him with three runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Koch was laboring at the end and was pulled after Upper's first two batters in the seventh reached. One reason why Koch was gassed was his performance at the plate. He was 4 for 5 and scored three runs. In the sixth, he singled and scored on Blake Parker's triple. A lot of running on a hot day. "It was really hot out," Koch said. "It was hard, especially after running the bases. It was hard on the body; I was really tired." Koch's 101-pitch effort means that Talon Walton and Martin — who threw 24 pitches to earn a save — are available to pitch in Thursday's regional championship game. "With the heat, and he was on base every time, he was expending a lot of energy out there," Blanton said of Koch. "He went first to home on a hit. Obviously we were trying to use him as much as we could to save arms for (Thursday)." Koch struck out the first two Upper batters and finished with four strikeouts and three walks. Perkins bunched its hits with Koch, Parker and Quentin Binette — the fifth, sixth and seventh batters in the order — going 9 for 13 with six runs and six batted in. "We had the bats going," Koch said. "Ten runs was pretty huge, especially for me as a pitcher. I had a lot of wiggle room." Parker singled, doubled and tripled. His two-out double in the third scored Koch, who singled, to give Perkins a 3-0 run. Binette, who doubled in the Pirates' first two runs in the second inning, followed with a run-scoring single and finished with four RBI. "We saw the ball well today, found holes and ran around the bases," Parker said. The spacious outfield at Bowling Green State University — 345 feet down the lines, 400 to center field — and a strong wind blowing straight out to center, was an asset for Perkins' speedy lineup. Leadoff hitter Bryce Davie led off the fourth with a shot over Upper center fielder Caine Rupe's head and didn't stop running until he reached home plate for an inside-the-park home run. That gave Perkins a 5-0 lead. "I thought he was gonna catch it for a second," Davie said. "I kept running and thought I could get a triple and I see Blanton waving his hands and I was confused. I got a home run, I guess. The catcher wasn't close to getting the ball. That grass is bouncy. It kept rolling, like turf." Davie had two hits and Dylan Crabtree, Martin, Carter Koch and Sam Schweinfurth all had hits. Schweinfurth's sixth-inning double with two out scored Carter Koch to give Perkins a 9-3 lead. "I thought we did a great job today," Blanton said. "Their outfielders, you could see the back of their numbers all day long. They were running all over the place. We hit gaps, it's a big field. We made them move. When they shifted one way, we hit it the other way. It was huge to hit those gaps when they were there." Martin tripled with one out in seventh and scored on Talon Walton's sacrifice fly to give Perkins a 10-6 lead. "Finally a great day to baseball," Koch said. "Wind was blowing out. We all knew to just put the bat on the ball and good things would happen." Upper (18-5) ace Josh Heilman pitched the first five innings, giving up 11 hits and striking out four. He had two hits at the plate, including a triple to lead off the Rams' three-run sixth inning. "We had two outs a couple times and they got big hits," said Upper coach Jerry Smalley, who is retiring after 12 years leading the Rams. "The 5 through 8 hitters killed us. It wasn't the top. I was worried about the top and those kids hit the ball today." Kasen Gottfried had two singles for Upper, including a hit in the bottom of the seventh to chase Koch. Martin came on and issued a walk to load the bases with nobody out and Perkins holding a four-run lead. A fielder's choice and throwing error scored two runs before Martin hit a batter. He responded with a strikeout and the final out of the game. "It got a little worrisome there at the end, but I knew Braxden would get us out of it," Parker said. "Ultimately, it was just survive and advice. That's what we did." The Pirates will make another drive back to BGSU, where Blanton was a college standout. "This is the furthest we've made it in quite awhile, but the biggest message is that the job isn't done," Blanton said. "We want to win another one. Our goal since I've taken over here is we want to play in Akron and we're one win away from that." Perkins 022 203 1 — 10 15 2Upper Sandusky 000 303 2 — 8 9 3 WP: Kash Koch. LP: Josh Heilman 2B: (P) Binette, Parker, Schweinfurth. 3B: (P) Parker, Martin; (US) Josh Heilman. HR: (P) Davie