Pirates rout Colts, roll into regional

WILLARD — The district belongs to Perkins. No contest. The Pirates trounced Clear Fork 11-1 in six innings in Thursday's Division IV district championship game. Earlier in the week, Perkins knocked out Shelby 9-1 in the semifinals. In two tournament games, the Pirates have allowed only five hits. Talon Walton started Thursday's game on the mound with four no-hit innings before the Colts scored in the fifth. Kash Koch threw a 1-hitter in the Shelby win. "We wanted to come out and made a statement," Perkins coach TJ Blanton said. "I thought our pitching was dominant all tournament. Kash in the first game, Talon today and Braxden (Martin) came in and got a good inning. "We did what we needed to do offensively. We scored runs in almost every inning and kept adding pressure. Overall, a great game." Perkins led 3-0 after three innings, aided by Clear Fork errors and walks. The Pirates (19-9) blew it open in the fourth. With two out, Walton blasted an opposite-field double to right-center field, scoring Dylan Crabtree and Martin. With Koch at the plate, Walton pulled off one of baseball's rarest plays: a steal of home. "The first pitch I had an idea, kept taking off," Walton said. "(Blanton) came back to me and said 'steal.' My eyes got wide open. Right when he looked down, I instantly went and he didn't see me. Everyone was hyped and my team was really happy for me. I was glad I could help them." Walton scored easily on the steal. The bold move gave Perkins a 6-0 lead. "I called out a steal to Kash so he knew Talon was stealing," Blanton said. "Their pitcher looked down and was very slow through the windup. I thought with the speed we had at third we could definitely steal a base there. (Walton) was 85 percent of the way there before he released the ball." Walton and Blake Parker both doubled to right-center and Quentin Binette hit a long RBI single to the right-center gap to score Parker. "They were giving us that gap," Blanton said. "The right fielder was playing in and over and the center fielder was shading the other way and that gap was wide open. I told them when we start hitting that gap we'll get some extra-base hits. I think we might've had three or four hits that way." The bottom of Perkins' order did serious damage. Binette, the No. 7 batter, reached base three times and singled up the middle to drive in two runs to end the game in the sixth inning via run rule. "I struggled early this season trying to pull the ball and mash," Binette said. "I knew I had to keep it simple. I knew we had some speed and anything up the middle would do it." Mason Souter, batting eighth, reached base twice and No. 9 hitter Sam Schweinfurth had two singles and drove in the game's first run with a two-out single in the second inning. Pinch-runner Brylan Harvey scored when the home plate umpire ruled that Clear Fork's catcher had blocked the plate. "Our 7-8-9 aren't weak hitters," Blanton said. "We place guys in the order for runs batted in and speed. With the top-of-the-order speed we feel really good with Sammy in the 9 hole because he hits the ball and can get on and run in front of those guys." Perkins' speed bothered the Colts (17-9), who made six errors. In the third inning, Martin reached on a bloop single and went all the way to third base on an errant pickoff attempt. He later scored on an error. "He was able to go first to third. That puts you in a sac fly situation," Blanton said. "In district games, we'll take every run we can get." Walton got the pitching win and also scored three runs. He was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the sixth after his double in the fourth. "The past couple games I've been rolling over and hitting groundouts," he said. "I've been hitting the ball hard. I finally got one to fall and it felt really good."' Perkins advances to regional play at 2 p.m. next Wednesday at Bowling Green State University. The Pirates will play the winner of Friday's Galion-Upper Sandusky matchup. "We're playing for a regional, something we haven't done in a couple years," Blanton said. "We like our draw and we feel good with what we're bringing. We're playing good baseball. Since I've got here our goal is to play in June, and we're playing in June." Clear Fork 000 010 — 1 4 6Perkins 012 332 — 11 7 2 WP: Walton. LP: Hotz 2B: (P) Walton, Parker