Early mistakes proved costly for Perryville as Festus capitalized and pulled away for a 7-1 victory on April 9 in Perryville.
The Tigers (7-3) did much of their damage in the opening innings, taking advantage of defensive miscues to build an early lead. Festus scored 3 runs in the first inning and added another in the second before Perryville (3-6) could settle in.
Despite the early deficit, the Pirates showed signs of progress as the game moved along.
“We competed with a really good team over there for innings three through seven,” Perryville coach Drew Korando said. “All of the runs that we gave up in the first inning were unearned. Just little simple mistakes that we’ve been really working on, trying to get fixed up. Innings three through seven were really good, so that’s something really promising to look at, but it does suck losing one by that much when you really didn’t play that bad.”
Festus finished with 7 runs on 12 hits, led by a balanced offensive effort. Schilly scored 2 runs, while Good added 2 runs and an RBI. Smith contributed 2 hits and 2 RBI, and Schaumburg drove in 2 runs as the Tigers consistently applied pressure at the plate.
Perryville, meanwhile, was limited to just 1 hit.
Bryce Weber accounted for that lone hit and also drove in the Pirates’ only run. Barrett Wheeler added an RBI, while Bryce Schmidt recorded a triple. Aiden Stueve and Weber were both hit by pitches to help create scoring opportunities.
Korando credited Weber for his performance on the mound despite the early struggles behind him defensively.
“Weber went out there and did exactly what he needed to do — let them hit the ball and let our defense work,” Korando said. “Unfortunately, in the first two innings, our defense didn’t work behind him. But great job to Weber.”
Weber took the loss after allowing 7 runs (4 earned) on 10 hits over 5 innings, striking out 4. Parker Shelton provided a strong relief effort, tossing 2 innings without allowing an earned run and striking out 2.
“Great job, Parker came in and did exactly what he needed to do,” Korando added.
While the scoreboard showed a lopsided result, Korando emphasized that the Pirates are continuing to grow as a young team.
“It’s been up and down. We’re young, which is a good thing, but some of the little things we just got to keep on honing in,” Korando said. “Little mistakes here and there, not doing something the perfect way. And those lead into errors and errors turning into runs, and then you don’t win ball games.”
Perryville committed 3 errors in the loss, and those mistakes proved to be the difference early.
Still, the Pirates showed improvement as the game progressed, holding Festus in check over the final 5 innings and continuing to battle at the plate.
“We definitely have our moments of ups and downs,” Korando said. “We just got to keep trying to limit the downs and get more ups.”
