PERKINS PLAYS ON: Koch's arm, Pirates' speed lead to 4-3 win in state semifinal

CANTON — Kash Koch was money, and the opportunistic Perkins Pirates will play for a state baseball championship. Koch threw six scoreless innings and Perkins stole six bases in their final two cracks on offense to defeat Indian Hill 4-3 on Friday night in a Division IV state semifinal at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium. Perkins (22-9) is scheduled to play Mentor Lake Catholic at 10 a.m. Sunday at Canal Park in Akron on the final day of the high school sports year. "No one gave us a chance; everyone picked Indian Hill," Perkins coach TJ Blanton said after getting doused by a cooler of water. "It felt sweet. We thought we were gonna do it and we did it." Koch struck out eight batters and was good enough to keep the Braves off the scoreboard. "I tell you what, he mixed it up really well. He kept our guys off balance waving at the curveballs," Indian Hill coach Cary Daniel said. "We couldn't put the fastball in play. We fouled too many of those off. That put him in great position to work us. "He did a really good job of controlling the run. He didn't give us opportunities to steal." Indian Hill (21-9) put seven runners in scoring position in the first five innings, but Koch rose to the occasion. Jim Liebel led off the top of the fourth inning with a towering triple to center field and Indian Hill was in business. Koch had other ideas. He got a strikeout, a popup and a strikeout to keep the game scoreless. "When runners get in scoring position you have to buckle down, for sure," Koch said. "I gotta be tighter with my stuff. When they got the leadoff triple, I knew I had to punch tickets and get the popout and get us out of the inning." Perkins center fielder Bryce Davie sprinted back on Liebel's shot and almost made a highlight-reel catch. "Bryce almost tracked it down and got a hand on it," Blanton said. "They had a leadoff guy at third base and it's 0-0. Kash battled back and got three outs without a run, which was absolutely huge." In the second inning, Davie threw out a runner at home when he tried to score on a one-out single. The missed opportunities helped turn the momentum toward Perkins, which had no hits in the first four innings. "We knew we had to execute to win," Daniel said. "We just didn't execute. We didn't get bunts down. We didn't get a guy in at third base with no outs. Those things come to bite us. Hats off to Perkins. They found a way to beat us in the last innings by playing small ball." Perkins completed the momentum shift in the fifth. Talon Walton led off and was hit by a pitch. It was the opening Perkins needed. Walton stole second, then third, and scored when the catcher's throw went into left field. Perkins, 1-0. Blake Parker singled with one out and stole second. He scored on a Sam Schweinfurth two-out single. "We didn't have any hits there, but we got a guy hit by a pitch, stole two bases and scored a run," Blanton said. "That kind of turned the momentum. Then we started getting some hits. We kept being aggressive; that's been our game plan all season and it led to four runs." Perkins stole four bases in the inning and added two more in the sixth. "In that situation we were fake bunting and the pitcher (Liebel) had no slide step," Walton said. "We just saw the big leg kick and took the opportunity. Chaos on the base paths. I stole third, they throw the ball away and I score a run and that starts the train." Perkins got two huge insurance runs in the sixth inning. Davie led off with a single and stole second easily. After Dylan Crabtree grounded out to second — moving Davie to third base — Martin's bunt single scored Davie to give Perkins a 3-0 lead. Martin went to second on a wild pitch and stole third, setting the stage for what proved to be the winning run. Walton struck out on a pitch that hit the turf. He raced to first and Indian Hill's catcher threw to first. Martin raced home and easily beat the return throw for a 4-0 lead. "That's probably my favorite strikeout of all time," Walton said. Added Martin: "He (the catcher) was aiming toward first after he dropped it. Coach Blanton told me to keep my eyes on the throw. I thought he was gonna pump fake and come to me, but he ended up throwing through so I just took it." Liebel had not allowed an earned run in 18 2/3 of tournament ball before the fifth inning. Koch, who threw 117 pitches, walked the first batter in the seventh and Blanton called on Martin to finish it. "It's the biggest stage you can play on," said Koch, who got a standing ovation when he walked to the dugout. "Last year we lost in the district finals and I said, 'we're going to Akron.' Being able to pitch in the final four was amazing. I didn't want to come out of the game." Martin walked a batter before the Braves' No. 9 hitter reached on the Pirates' only error. All four IH runs were unearned (one credited to Koch). That brought Devlan Daniel and his .559 average to the plate. Martin struck him out. A wild pitch and a groundout brought Indian Hill to within 4-3 as Liebel stepped in. Martin struck him out to end the game and set off a raucous celebration as the rain picked up. "I just had to settle down and do it for my team," Martin said. "It was an amazing feeling. Having this environment around me, all the fans from our community, my teammates cheering me up for that pitch, it was great." Perkins will drive back to Akron on Saturday and stay overnight in preparation for the early Sunday start. "This is awesome. This is somewhere we haven't been yet," Blanton said. "We've talked about this moment since I took this job. Here we are. But like I said, we're not done yet. We needed two games and now we need one. We're going for a state championship. Why not us?" Indian Hill 000 000 3 — 3 5 2Perkins 000 022 X — 4 4 1 WP: K. Koch. LP: Liebel 2B: (IH) Daniel. 3B: (IH) Liebel