STATE CHAMPS: Perkins beats Fenwick to win Division IV title

AKRON — Perkins baseball coach TJ Blanton paid a visit to the mound in the top of seventh inning with his team one out from a state championship. He had some advice and a message of appreciation. "I let them know to watch their faces when the cleats come in for the dog pile, and I wanted them to soak in that moment because there were a lot of seniors out there," Blanton said. "I told them to look up into the crowd and see all the support they had. "I knew Braxden (Martin) was going to get the last out, so it was more of a 'hey, guys I'm proud of you. I love you guys, soak this moment in.' " Martin, one of those Perkins seniors, got the last out and the Pirates are state champions. Perkins scored three runs in the first inning Sunday morning and defeated Bishop Fenwick 5-1 in the Division IV title game at 7 17 Credit Union Park. The final out was a ground ball to shortstop Sam Schweinfurth, who flipped to second baseman Mason Souter for a force out, triggering the pile of Pirates near the pitcher's mound. "It's probably the scariest ground ball I've taken in my life," Schweinfurth said. "It felt like it was coming at me so slow. I made the play and that's why we're state champs. Once I made that flip I blacked out, threw my glove and jumped in the dog pile and was so happy." Star senior Talon Walton, who reached base four times and scored two runs in the game, said "it felt like a movie out there," but he didn't care for the dog pile once he was in it. "That hurt; I've never done that before," Walton said. "I was getting cleats in my face. It felt like there were 15,000 people on me. I've never been claustrophobic in my life, but I was claustrophobic there. I was wrapped around Braxden like a bear. I didn't like that." The Pirates collected their trophy and lingered on the field before heading home to an impromptu parade and get-together in the school gym to celebrate the program's first state title. "It's starting to sink in a little bit, but it feels awesome," Blanton said. "We did it for ourselves, for Perkins, for Sandusky, for Erie County and for the SBC. We kinda get overlooked a little bit by bigger conferences. To bring one back for the SBC is huge. I've already had a lot of texts from SBC coaches. "It's an awesome feeling to see the smile on the guys' faces and the fans who showed up." The Perkins fans liked what they saw from Martin and the rest of the Pirates. Martin was pressed into service after Perkins' top two pitchers — Walton and Kash Koch — pitched in Saturday's 12-7 semifinal win over Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. Martin was masterful in the spotlight. He threw 108 pitches — 70 for strikes — and allowed only a run in the third inning. "Falling short the past couple times I wanted to go out there and be a difference-maker in the game," Martin said. "We played team baseball today and were able to come out on top. These are moment you dream of. You want to be in these situations." Martin scattered six hits and struck out five. His only two walks came in the last inning. "His fastball was working and his curveball was gross," catcher Carter Koch said. "He was placing his fastballs well and got ahead of batters, which was huge. "He handles pressure the best on the team. He's been put in the hardest spots in all sports so he's a pro at it." Perkins (25-6-1) put pressure on Fenwick early. Falcons starter and ace Carter Shouse exited early in last week's regional final and lasted only four batters Sunday. Walton singled with one out in the first before Carter Koch smashed a RBI triple to right field. "Had two strikes. I loaded early, kept my weight back and drove it to right field," he said. "It felt great off the bat." Kash Koch added a RBI single before the left-handed Shouse was pulled from the game. "I knew Shouse went out of the game last week with some elbow soreness," Blanton said. "I thought if we could get to him early it might make them make a change early. That kid (reliever Caleb McMonigle) did a good job of controlling the game, but we had three and just needed to tack on a run here and there. "If you keep winning innings with a three-run lead, you're going to win the game." Schweinfurth walked and Martin reached on an infield hit to load the bases. With two out, Dante Shipp Jr. fouled off a few pitches and worked a RBI walk for a big third run. "I just wanted to keep fighting," Shipp said. "Down 0-2, we're taught to stay confident and keep battling. It felt great. You can play more relaxed when you're ahead early." The Pirates made it 4-0 in the second when Walton singled, stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch. "No matter where we're at on the base paths we want to create havoc and make them throw it around a little bit," Walton said. "The more you advance the more likely you are to score. We try to put people in scoring position." Perkins scored its final run in the fifth inning. Schweinfurth singled, stole second, advanced to third on a balk and scored on Shipp's two-out double to right. Fenwick (23-9), a member of the rugged Greater Catholic League that draws talent from the Cincinnati and Dayton areas, led off the sixth with a single from Isaac Barker. Jackson Kauffman followed with a grounder to Schweinfurth, who threw to Souter for a force. Souter pivoted for the throw to first, which was late. Barker, though, was called out for interference, giving Perkins two important outs on one play. "He slid into me a little bit and I couldn't really get the throw off," Souter said. "Luckily the ump had a good view of that." Perkins got the second out on the play because Souter threw to first baseman Quentin Binette. "He slid through the bag," Blanton said. "If Souter doesn't throw that ball, it doesn't count and it would've been just one out. But since he intended to throw the ball they had to make that call. He's gotta come to the base and he slid through the base. "That's a play you don't think about that Souter made there. Brax was working up in pitches. That got two outs on one play. That was a huge shift. From that point on, I felt pretty good." Blanton and his players felt more than good when the coach, who is in his fifth year leading the program, made the slow walk to the mound an inning later. "He was like, 'I love you guys.' We love him, too," Martin said. "He wanted to tell us how proud he was of us. That talk really settled in and it was like, 'Wow, this is really gonna happen.' " Fenwick 001 000 0 — 1 6 1 Perkins 310 010 x — 5 7 1 WP: Martin. LP: Shouse. 2B: (F) McMonigle; (P) Shipp Jr. 3B: (P) C. Koch