Redmen rally to knock Perkins out of 1st place

PERKINS TWP. — Bellevue loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth inning and didn't score. The Redmen loaded them again in each of the last two innings and made Perkins pay. Bellevue scored four runs in the sixth and four in the seventh to defeat Perkins 9-5 on Friday, knocking the Pirates out of first place in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division. Five Redmen who walked in the game scored and Bellevue's 7-8-9 hitters combined for four runs batted in. Bellevue improved to 8-5 overall and 5-2 in the Lake, tying Perkins (12-5, 6-2) in the loss column. "You kinda put yourself behind the 8-ball when you lose two the first time through (the division schedule)," Bellevue coach Andy Dennings said. "But hey, we're playing for something and we're starting to play some pretty good baseball." Norwalk, which had its Friday game against Columbian rained out, is in first place at 5-1 and hosts Perkins next Wednesday. "We win the next two, we're co-champions at worst," Perkins coach TJ Blanton said. The Pirates were looking good early against the Redmen. Perkins starting pitcher Talon Walton struck out three in the top of the first and Perkins scored twice in the bottom half of the inning on a Quinten Binette sacrifice fly and Mason Souter two-out single. After that, Bellevue got it together. Sophomore lefty starter Blake Sutherland threw four no-hit frames in innings 2-5 to keep Bellevue close. "I kept my composure, knowing I could shut them down," Sutherland said. "I had my teammates in the dugout. We had good energy and that kept me in the game and not get down on myself." Blanton wanted to see his team extend its lead. Instead, he saw a lot of quick at-bats. "We were just swinging," Blanton said. "(Sutherland) threw 15 pitches in a three-inning span. Sometimes we get too comfortable when we get a lead and don't step on the gas when we need to. We didn't execute in innings 2 through 5." It looked like it was going to be Perkins' day when Souter, playing second base, snared a hard line shot off the bat of Tyson Baptista and threw to second to double-up a runner with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth. Bellevue didn't score and Perkins maintained a 2-1 lead. "Mason Souter made a great play on that double play," Blanton said. "I thought that was the turning point where we could get a little momentum and we came out (bottom of the fifth) and I think it was a four-pitch inning. You have to take advantage when you have momentum and we didn't do that." Things changed in the sixth for Bellevue's offense. Four straight Bellevue batters reached with one out — on a passed ball third strike, a single by Sam Bollinger, a walk by Caden Lindsey and a single by No. 7 hitter Reid Claus that tied the game at 2-2. Sam Cooper followed with a hard grounder that bounced off Walton's foot. The Perkins pitcher recovered and threw to first for an out, but Bollinger scored to give Bellevue the lead. With two out, No. 9 hitter Grant Musser delivered a two-out single to right field to make it 5-2. "I was thinking, 'put a ball out there hard,' " Musser said. "I sat back on it; I'm not usually a back-side guy in games. I was glad to see that. I wanted to get something going with runners in scoring position." Added Dennings: "It was huge. That stretched it to three. A one-run lead is great, but anytime you get some insurance that really helps. Grant's a good hitter, he's just had a tough start to the year. He makes things happen down there (9-hole) and I think it's a really good fit for him." Walton struck out nine in six innings. "Walton was really good the first time through the order," Dennings said. "We had our hands full; his fastball was kind of electric and his off-speed was really good. But as we continued, we got better at-bats. We were competing a lot better and getting deeper in counts. We continued to get better the more we saw him." Perkins made it 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Braxden Martin drew his third straight walk and Walton singled. Binette then hammered one to deep left-center for a long two-run single. "I hung a changeup and Q made me pay," Sutherland said. Sutherland went six innings and improved to 4-0 on the season. "Blake hung in there. It wasn't what we wanted right out of the chute, but he kept us within striking distance and we kept plugging away," Dennings said. "That was a ton of resiliency. He kept battling. Sometimes he has to just trust his stuff." Bellevue added four runs in the seventh. Kaden Cramer had a RBI single and Lindsey had a RBI sacrifice fly. Three Redmen walked and scored in the inning. "It came down to too many free baserunners and a hit or two where they'd drop one in," Blanton said. "We didn't do our job offensively and when they had the opportunities, they took them." Perkins loaded the bases in the seventh and Bryce Davie (singled) scored on a walk by reliever Lindsey. But a fly ball to Cramer in center field ended it. "It got kind of hairy at the end. I don't mind that," Dennings said. "It's high-pressure, playoff-type baseball right there." Bellevue 010 004 4 — 9 6 0Perkins 200 002 1 — 5 5 3 WP: Sutherland. LP: Walton