Perryville rallies for sectional victory

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Give the Perryville Lady Pirates an inch and they'll take the sectional.

Perryville, trailing by one run with its No. 8 and 9 batters coming up in the bottom of the seventh inning, took advantage of some mistakes and rallied past St. Pius X 5-4 Friday at Perryville City Park to advance to the Class 3A quarterfinals.

Perryville (16-13) will play either Lutheran South or Sullivan at noon today at Affton Athletic Association in the St. Louis area.

Sophomore catcher Kelly Kassel, Perryville's cleanup hitter, pulled a grounder past the shortstop with two outs to drive home Amanda Nuyt for the winning run.

"I knew that I hadn't got a hit yet and I knew I was due," Kassel said. "I was just waiting for my pitch."

The rally started when left fielder Amber Leible reached on an error. Up to that point, St. Pius (21-8) had played stellar defense, scooping every ground ball and making every throw.

But on the first play of the seventh, first baseman Brittany Broccard went to her right and the ball scooted under her glove and into right field. It appeared the second baseman would've made the play had Broccard not got in the way.

"That's just a case of a kid trying to do too much," St. Pius coach Barb Charboneau said.

Perryville designated hitter Jennifer Hoehn then reached on a fielder's choice. Julia Heuring got to first on an error by St. Pius second baseman Lauren Eldridge, scoring pinch runner Kate Lowery, who earlier advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Heuring tried to score on the play, but was thrown out on a close play at the plate.

Amy Steffens then hit a bloop line-drive to right field, followed by another St. Pius error, which allowed Nuyt to reach base.

Kassel's game-winning hit followed.

"That was nerve-racking," Perryville coach Lynn O'Neal said. "But I always tell the girls, 'The sun is going to come up tomorrow unless it rains.' We try to not put too much pressure on them, just build confidence."

"I didn't know what to think going into the inning," Kassel said. "We just wanted to even it up to have another chance."

St. Pius took an early 3-0 lead in the third inning, taking advantage of three hits and a Perryville error. A long double to right field by Allison Wagner drove home one run.

The Lady Pirates answered quickly in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three to tie the game. Amanda Mahnken and Jenna Schuessler hit RBI singles and Kate Bohnert hit a sacrifice fly.

The Lancers went up 4-3 in the sixth as Kate Buehler walked and later scored on an error by shortstop Schuessler.

Amanda Roth picked up the victory. She allowed two earned runs on five hits and five walks. She struck out one.

St. Pius' Stacy Giljum allowed three earned runs on six hits. She walked three and struck out none.

Perryville last reached the quarterfinals two years ago. The Lady Pirates lost that game to Lutheran South in eight innings.

Friday's game was the second time this year Perryville defeated St. Pius in its final at-bat.