Pirates hang on for 2nd straight SBC title

NORWALK — An SBC baseball title was slipping away from Perkins. Norwalk had the tying run 90 feet from home plate when the Pirates got the final out to turn back the Truckers 9-8 and clinch a tie for the Lake championship for the second straight year. "Every time we play Norwalk it's never over. They keep doing that," Perkins coach T.J. Blanton said. "We told the guys they're gonna keep fighting." Both teams did on a rainy day that got wetter as the game wore on. Perkins led 9-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and Nolan Thomas was dealing. The Perkins senior threw three scoreless innings with four strikeouts and got the first batter in the bottom of the seventh. Then things got dicey for the Pirates. Norwalk's Carter Harp singled, Wesley Shupe doubled and Kaedyn Warner delivered an RBI single to score Shupe. Throw in three wild pitches and it was 9-8 in no time. Blanton pulled Thomas after two walks and went with Talon Walton, who earned a dramatic save. "I felt good. The ball got a little wet," Thomas said. "Once the ball got wet it kinda got out of control. Shoutout to Talon for coming in and shutting it down." Walton got a fielder's choice and strikeout to end the game with Kevin Howard leading off third base. "I had to finish the game," Walton said. "It wasn't even the wetness. It was the dirt on it. It was really slick. I wiped it off the best I could and juts threw it." Blanton breathed a big sigh of relief as the Pirates posed for a team photo as Lake champs. "That rain didn't help much, but (Thomas) pitched really well in the three innings before that," he said. "We did enough to win. We'll take it." Perkins improved to 11-8 overall and finished Lake play at 8-2, tied with Columbian for the title. "It's big," Perkins senior shortstop Braylon Collier said. "Back to back years, coming out and playing when it matters and showing up in the big moments." The Pirates had to do it the hard way, winning their final six league games after a rocky start. "We've won six straight in the Lake to get ourselves in this position," Blanton said. "Now it's time to tune up for the tournament." The tournament draw is Sunday. Perkins rallied for four runs in the sixth inning to beat Norwalk 10-9 in mid-April, so Friday's photo finish was no surprise. "That was a slugfest," Norwalk coach Jason Higgins said. "That's two games we've played them this year decided by one run. We came back in both games but fell a little short." Howard and senior Jacob Collins walked with one out in the bottom of the seventh to give the Truckers (5-13, 2-8) a pair of baserunners when the game ended. "The ball gets a little slick, you start gripping it a little too tight. You never know what's gonna happen," Higgins said. "A couple to the back stop, we picked up some extra bases. We definitely kept the pressure on them. "I know they're happy with the win, but I know that they know that they maybe got away with one there." Perkins got to Norwalk senior starter Tanner Harp on Senior Day, scoring six runs on four hits in the second inning. Thomas, Sam Schweinfurth, Collier and Dylan Crabtree all had hits in the inning. Three runs scored on Schweinfurth's Little League home run. He laced an RBI single and came all the way around to score on two throwing errors. Harp settled down from there and worked into the sixth inning. "We don't have any guys who throw 85 so we need to throw strikes and pitch to contact," Higgins said. "He found it there. We can catch fly balls." Norwalk scored five runs in the third on four hits, including RBI singles from Avery Scheel and Warner. Warner led the Truckers offense with three hits, two runs and two RBI. His sharp single to center in the seventh bounced and hit a diving Logan Lesch in the head. The Perkins senior was smiling afterward, though. John Zwiesler's RBI single gave Perkins a 7-5 lead in the fourth and the Pirates looked to have things under control after Zwiesler plated Crabtree (reached on bunt single) and Thomas blasted a double to right field off of Carter Harp with what proved to be the winning run. "I like left-handed pitchers. They come into my bat angle," Thomas said. "We had a runner on second and needed to score. Coaches talk about us about not leaving runners on." Collier, Crabtree and Thomas each had two hits and Crabtree scored three runs for the Pirates. Collier arrived to the field a little late because he was working out for Michigan State football coaches. The Spartans offered the skilled wide receiver a scholarship, joining a host of other schools including Iowa and Iowa State. Collier caught a ride to Norwalk with Blanton. "He's running routes all day for the last two days. He's probably tired," Blanton said. "I had to drive him down here. Michigan State was still there. We didn't end up leaving Sandusky till about 3:45. When the Big Ten schools are here, you wait for them." Perkins 060 102 0 — 9 9 4Norwalk 005 000 3 — 8 9 5 WP: Thomas. LP: T. Harp 2B: (P) Thomas; (N) Shupe