It wasn’t exactly the start to the season that the Pirate baseball team envisioned.
A rough first inning dooms Perryville as they fell to Park Hills Central 6-0 on Tuesday at Pirate Field.
“It wasn’t the game or result we wanted, but for a lot of the guys it was their first start at the varsity level,” Perryville baseball coach Blane Boss said. “For a lot of the guys it was a new position. We threw Justin Wingerter in as catcher on the first day of practice, which is tough for anyone. We still have a long ways to go, but I’m excited to see how we progress.”
However, it was the first inning that did the Pirates in.
An error, a hit batsman and a single loaded the bases for the Rebels.
The Rebels were able to scratch across three runs on a bases loaded walk, two RBI groundouts.
“Guess we were a little nervous with it being our first game, but hopefully our jitters are out now,” Boss said.
Sophomore Dane Lauck got the start and after that first inning really settled down.
Lauck pitched five innings, gave up one hit, with four runs scored (two runs earned) and five strikeouts.
Also, the defense made some nice plays behind him. Trey Scruggs made a diving stop in the second inning and Lauck made a nice play on a comebacker in the third.
“Dane battled for us,” Boss said. “He is going to have to be one of our top arms for us this year, so hopefully he can build on this performance as we go.”
While Lauck was gaining his footing on the mound, the offense as a whole could not.
The Pirates mustered a pair of hits, one each by Mitchell Zoellner and Jack Rehagan.
Park Hills pitcher Kendall Horton pitched five innings, with one hit and eight strikeouts.
Jett Bridges made in the game in relief and pitched two innings, allowed one hit with one strikeout.
“Horton is a solid pitcher and he’s tough to hit. when he has it all going,” Boss said. “It also doesn’t help that this is our first game and the conditions weren’t the best with the wind blowing in, but we definitely have to get some runs on the board in the future.”
