Indians keep Pirates at bay, collect 7-4 win

JACKSON — Caleb Hosey found himself in an 0-2 hole after seeing a pair of nasty curveballs from Perryville's Jon Hecht.

Jackson had the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth, the score tied and Hosey, a junior, at the plate. Hosey battled back to a full count then fouled off a pair of pitches.

"I was thinking just choke up and get a base hit," Hosey said. "Get it in the outfield. I was kind of like, 'Throw me a fastball.' I was hoping for fastball."

Hosey wanted a fastball, but he feared Hecht might go with another curveball.

"I was thinking a curveball in the dirt," Hosey said. "It was just a fastball."

Hosey lined the fastball into right field for a bases-clearing double, and the Indians held on against the Pirates for the 7-4 victory Monday.

What made the hit even more special for Hosey is that he rarely bats. As he said, "Once in a blue moon."

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Perryville first baseman Andrew Marten reached for a pickoff throw in the second inning as Jackson's Caleb Guilliams returned safely to the bag Monday at Jackson City Park.

He's one of the top pitchers for the Indians, and the designated hitter usually bats for him. But he was able to deliver the crucial hit when called upon Monday.

"I was like, 'Yeah,'" he said. "I was pretty happy about it."

The Pirates refused to go quietly in the seventh. Lance Roth started the rally with a walk, then three consecutive singles plated two runs for Perryville with one out against Jackson's Dylan Jenkins. But Jenkins regrouped to get Hecht to fly out to center, then struck out Justin Dailey to end it.

"I had faith in Dylan," Jackson senior Ryan Cheney said. "I thought he was going to get the job done. I knew he was going to get it together and we were going to get out of there."

Cheney helped the Indians break through in the third inning. He singled up the middle to score Blake Reiminger, who had doubled. Cheney finished 2-for-4, while Reiminger went 3-for-4.

"The second time through the order, we saw the pitches better," Cheney said of Hecht. "We got a feel for him after the first round through the order. He came inside every now and then, but a lot of times he was outside the strike zone. You just had to be patient and wait for your pitch."

The Pirates struck first, on a two-run homer to left by Waylon Sparkman in the third. The ball kept carrying and barely cleared the fence as left fielder Reiminger crashed into the wall.

"I didn't think it was going to go out," Sparkman said. "It felt pretty good. We still lost, so it doesn't matter a whole lot. But it felt good coming off the bat."

Alex Tripp earned the win for the Indians. He went five innings, striking out three and walking three. Jackson improved to 8-11, while Perryville dropped to 7-10.

"Their kids executed and our kids did not execute as much," Perryville coach Dan O'Keefe said.

Perryville 002 000 2 — 4 8 2

Jackson 001 132 x — 7 10 3

WP — Alex Tripp. LP — Jon Hecht. 2B — Blake Reiminger (J), Caleb Hosey (J). HR — Waylon Sparkman (P). Multiple hits — Perryville: Sparkman 2-2; Jackson: Reiminger 3-4, Caleb Guilliams 2-3, Ryan Cheney 2-4. Records — Perryville 7-10, Jackson 8-11.