Perryville ace shoots down Sikeston in opening round

Jon Hecht said he had "pretty much everything going."

The same could be said for the entire Perryville High School baseball team.

Hecht, a senior left-hander, and the rest of the Pirates dominated Sikeston 9-1 on Monday in a first-round Class 3 District 1 tournament game.

Perryville, the fifth seed, advanced to today's 4 p.m. semifinal against top-seeded Notre Dame at Notre Dame.

"Everything came together for us today," Perryville left fielder Craig Brueckner said.

Early this season, fourth-seeded Sikeston beat Hecht and the Pirates 3-0 as the Bulldogs scored all their runs in the first inning.

Monday's rematch at Central's field was a much different story.

Hecht allowed only an unearned run and five hits to the Bulldogs (13-10). He struck out seven and walked four.

"I felt good out there," said Hecht, who has signed to play baseball next season at Florissant Valley Community College in suburban St. Louis. "My curve, my changeup, my fastball, it was all working."

Even though Hecht lost to Sikeston earlier, it's not like the Bulldogs battered him around. So he felt good about Monday's rematch.

"We had confidence," he said. "We knew we could give them our best shot."

That the Pirates (8-10) did, and the blows came from many more players than just Hecht.

During the earlier meeting, Sikeston ace Garrett Limbaugh blanked Perryville on three hits.

This time, the Pirates reached Limbaugh for eight hits and seven runs in 5 1/3 innings. Perryville finished the day with 10 hits.

"We've gotten better as the season went along," Brueckner said. "We played them early in the year. We've improved our hitting and fielding since then."

Brueckner went 3-for-4 with a double. He also walked as he reached base in four of five plate appearances.

Hecht showed he's a pretty good hitter as well as pitcher by going 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs.

Shortstop Lance Roth, who also has signed with Florissant Valley Community College, added two doubles.

The Pirates benefited from nine walks and three Sikeston errors, although all their runs were earned. Perryville also stole three bases.

"We hit the ball. The kid [Limbaugh] ate us up last time. He's a good pitcher," said first-year Perryville coach Don O'Keefe. "And I was really pleased with how we reacted on the bases."

O'Keefe also was elated with the Pirates' defense, which made just one error and turned three double plays.

"A pitcher's best friend," Hecht said.

Lance Roth, third baseman Ethan Roth and second baseman Luke Ponder all started double plays for the Pirates.

None of those twin killings was bigger than the one Ponder turned in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Sikeston, trailing 6-1, threatened to make a game of it as the Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out.

Vince Howard then hit a hard ground ball up the middle that looked like it might scoot into center field for a two-run single.

But Ponder was positioned perfectly and made a nice backhanded stop near second base. He stepped on the bag and fired to first to end the threat.

"That was probably the biggest momentum swing," O'Keefe said. "Jon pitched well and the defense came through for him."

Perryville jumped on top with two runs in the top of the second inning and the Pirates never looked back.

Sikeston got its only run in the third — taking advantage of Perryville's lone error — but the Pirates stretched their lead with two in both the fourth and fifth.

The Pirates tacked on one in the sixth and two in the seventh to win going away.

"These kids really hustle and fight," O'Keefe said.

Perryville 020 221 2 — 9 10 1

Sikeston 001 000 0 — 1 5 3

WP — Jon Hecht, 4-2. LP — Garrett Limbaugh, 2-2. 3B — Hecht (P), Matt Ritch (S). 2B — Lance Roth (P) 2, Craig Brueckner (P), Cody Anderson (S). Multiple hits — Perryville, Hecht 3-5, Brueckner 3-4, Roth 2-4; Sikeston, Josh Pierce 2-4. Records — Perryville 8-10, Sikeston 13-10.