Perryville baseball team extinguishes Ste. Genevieve

At 6 foot 8, Perryville junior Jake Dobbelare has a habit of standing tall.

But he never stood as tall this baseball season as he did Saturday. Dobbelare helped the fourth-seeded Pirates overcome the errors of their ways in a first-round game at the Class 3 District 1 baseball tournament at Notre Dame.

Dobbelare emerged as the winning pitcher when he lined a walk-off single past a drawn-in Ste. Genevieve infield to cap a three-run seventh inning to defeat the Dragons 8-7.

Dobbelare smashed a 3-1 pitch from Ste. Genevieve reliever Bryn Huck just to the right of the Ste. Genevieve shortstop to score Tyler Blessing from third base.

"He threw a fastball. It was what I was looking for," Dobbelare said.

Perryville players mob Jake Dobbelare (5) after his seventh-inning single lifted the Pirates to an 8-7 win against Ste. Genevieve during the first round of the Class 3 District 1 tournament Saturday at Notre Dame. (Kristin Eberts)

Huck, a sophomore, had entered the game in the top of the seventh inning in relief of junior starting pitcher Dustin Raney, the staff ace who allowed six hits over the first six innings.

"We want to win today to make it to tomorrow, but at the same time we're trying to look out for [Raney]," Ste. Genevieve coach Michael McDaniel said. "He threw a lot of pitches last week in the conference tournament."

The conference tournament was a big part of the momentum the Dragons had coming into the game. Ste. Genevieve (14-7) entered with a six-game winning streak, which included conference tournament victories over Farmington and Valle Catholic.

Ste. Genevieve, the fifth seed, was looking at extending its streak to seven games with three unearned runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take its first lead at 7-5.

But Huck quickly pumped hope into the Perryville dugout when he walked the first two batters he faced -- the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters. Blessing followed with a single to right field to load the bases with nobody out. Ross Moldenhauer then sent a fly ball into deep center to score Alex Green from third base, while pinch runner Thomas Hutchinson and Blessing moved up to second and third, respectively.

Perryville's Jake Dobbelare singles home the winning run against Ste. Genevieve during the seventh inning Saturday at the Class 3 District 1 tournament at Notre Dame.

That brought Dobbelare to the plate. And one pitch after Dragons catcher Jacob Roe made a nice backhanded stab of a pitch in the dirt, Huck uncorked a wild pitch to score Hutchinson with the tying run. Dobbelare lined the next pitch into left field.

"He's not necessarily our closer, but he's come up in some big situations for us," McDaniel said about Huck. "He closed out the conference championship against the Valle Warriors for us. It's just one of those days where he didn't have it."

Perryville (15-7) never trailed until the sixth inning. The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Moldenhauer and a successful suicide-squeeze bunt by pitcher Colby Brown. Brown, who pitched the first four innings, also helped his cause with a two-out, two-run double in the third inning for a 4-0 lead.

Ste. Genevieve banged out four hits in the fourth inning off Brown, who had allowed one hit through the first three innings. Broc Kreitler opened the inning with a home run as the Dragons pulled even with a four-run inning.

"They hit the ball pretty good that inning," Brown said. "I kind of lost command of my fastball."

Perryville's Jacob Dobbelare pitches during the fifth inning of a Class 3 District 1 game against Ste. Genevieve on Saturday, May 14, 2011, at Notre Dame High School. Perryville won 8-7. (Kristin Eberts)

Brown walked the leadoff batter in the fifth inning and gave way to Dobbelare.

"It's win or go home, so I came in for him," said Dobbelare (6-2), who hit the first batter he faced.

Dobbelare retired the next three batters, and Perryville moved ahead in the bottom of the inning after Kirk Hadler's deep fly to right field was misplayed into a leadoff triple. Hutchinson came on to pinch run and scored on Blessing's sacrifice fly.

Ste. Genevieve countered with two unearned runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-5 lead. A two-out error by Moldenhauer at shortstop allowed Ste. Genevieve to tie the game, and the Dragons followed with two singles for a second run.

Ste. Genevieve scored an insurance run in the seventh when Perryville's fourth error helped the Dragons to a 7-5 lead.

Perryville's Alexander Green just misses tagging out Ste. Genevieve's Broc Kreitler during the sixth inning of a Class 3 District 1 game on Saturday, May 14, 2011, at Notre Dame High School. Perryville won 8-7. (Kristin Eberts)

"We struggled a little bit [on defense]. We're usually pretty good" said Dobbelare, who yielded four hits and struck out three in three innings.

Perryville coach Don O'Keefe said defense always has been a top priority in his four seasons at the school.

"I started thinking, 'My God, if our defense starts falling apart. ... That's who we are,'" O'Keefe said. "I'll be honest with you, I was worried."

Perryville's offense came to the rescue in the bottom of the seventh, advancing the Pirates to Monday's 4 p.m. semifinal game against top-seeded Notre Dame.

"Everybody knows what Notre Dame is," O'Keefe said. "We're going to come here Monday and we're going to go at it. I expect it to be a fight, and we'll see what happens from there."

Ste. Genevieve 000 402 1 -- 7 9 0

Perryville 202 010 3 -- 8 8 4

WP -- Jake Dobbelare, 6-2. LP -- Bryn Huck, 2-2. HR -- Broc Kreitler (SG). 3B -- Jared Hotop (P), Kirk Hadler (P). 2B -- Dustin Raney (SG), Colby Brown (P). Multiple hits -- Ste. Genevieve: Kreitler 2-3, Nolan Ritter 2-3, Huck 2-3, Trever Billings 2-4; Perryville: Hotop 2-3. Records -- Ste. Genevieve 14-7, Perryville 15-7.