Pirates soccer earns four All-State honors

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Perryville boys soccer has had a tradition of sorts the past six years.
The Pirates have had at least one player make the All-State team every year, but one since 2014.
In that span, Perryville has had 17 players earn such honors.
That tradition continued into 2021.
Perryville had four players and its coach earn a spot on the All-State team after a remarkable season that saw Perryville finish runner-up in Class 2.
Perryville coach Jerry Fulton believes all the honors are well deserved.
“It speaks volumes about the quality of our players and this program,” Fulton said. “
Senior Dayton Strattman earned a spot on the first team, while senior goalkeeper Ty Baudendistel also made the first team.
Senior Bryce Brewer made the second team, while junior Carson Adams was honorable mention.
Along with being on the first team, Strattman was also named the Class Co-Offensive Player of the Year with Payton Mathews of Westminister Christian.
Strattman was named to the second team in 2020, but far surpassed his numbers in his final year in a Pirate uniform.
Strattman set a Perryville school record with 43 goals and 34 assists for a total of 120 points. Fulton noted that Strattman was one of the leaders on the team and proved that to some degree scoring the first goal in every Perryville game in the postseason, except for the state championship game against Whitfield.
“That honor doesn’t surprise me with Dayton,” Fulton said. “He was dedicated all year and was very focused. The old school record was 26 and with 43 he nearly doubled it. “He’s been a true leader for this team. He’s led this team in goals and assists and he’s done it by example. It’s not that he will just sit there and talks a good game, he went out and showed it. He never let the team slow down and kept them firing on all cylinders.”
Baudendistel recorded 14 shutouts and had 77 saves and a .770 save percentage. He allowed 23 goals in 27 games when in the net

In many games, Baudendistel rarely touched the ball, but was there when called upon.
“Ty was very technical and made the saves when we needed him to much of the time,” Fulton said. “He recorded 14 shutouts which was one more than the 2014 team had. I thought he deserved it.”
The Pirates gave up on average of 1.04 goals per game this season, which Fulton was pleased with, but wanted to have some of his defensive players such as Riley Hagan and Dillion Schlimpert recognized for their efforts.
“Those two didn’t make the All-Region team either and I thought it was a discredit to them,” Fulton said. “They made it so Ty didn’t have to touch the ball much in some of the games this year and was a big part in why we made it as far as we did.”
Bryce Brewer may have been the snub off of the first team, as he recorded 41 goals and 19 assists to create a dynamic duo with Strattman up front for the Pirate offense.
“Bryce was a totally different player this year from his junior season,” Fulton said. “He came out with a purpose and Bryce was huge for us all season. People don’t know that he played the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship game with a broken nose.”
Strattman and Brewer combined for 84 goals on the season for a team that surpassed the school record with 133 goals as a team (130 goals in 2014).
“It’s rare to have a 40 goal scorer on a team, much less two,” Fulton said.
The final player to earn all state honors for Perryville was Adams, who controlled the midfield and scored 10 goals and dished out another 18 assists in 2021.
“Carson was the key in controlling that midfield and I’m glad that other coaches recognized that,” Fulton said. “He’s a different player and has a different role than a forward, but he may be the most skilled player on the field than anyone we had.”
Fulton was named the Public School Coach of the Year in Class 2.
“I don’t coach for awards like that,” Fulton said. “I coach to see our players succceed and to accomplish what we did this year. I think it speaks well for the team and the whole coaching staff. I don’t think these awards can go to one person because I don’t do this by myself, much like the players can’t win without each other.”
Adams will be the only player who earned an all-state award to return next season as Perryville will graduate six seniors.
They finished with a 23-4 record losing to Whitfield in the state title game.
“I don’t expect Carson to prepare any less, and maybe even harder to get back to where we were this year,” Fulton said. “He will be a good leader as a senior and hopefully we will give him all the support he needs. There were 14 players on this year’s team that saw where we went. Hopefully that gives them the fuel to want to get back there.”