Scott City baseball rallies for win over Perryville

PERRYVILLE - 16 straight.

That’s how many wins the Scott City Rams have strung together.

For much of Monday’s contest with Perryville however, it appeared that streak was in jeopardy as the Rams rallied to beat the Pirates 7-5.

“We wanted to come out and have a lot of energy,” Rams coach Skylar Cobb said. “We felt like it could be a trap game. That’s a good team we played. They came out and punched us in the face.”

It was the Pirates opening the scoring in the bottom half of the first as the Rams’ starting pitcher, Braden Mashek worked his way into a bases loaded situation.

With the bases loaded, the Pirates’ Waylon Huber drew a walk, allowing Perryville to scratch a run across and take a 1-0 lead.

“He didn’t have his best stuff,” Cobb said. “For him to be able to minimize and eliminate that big hit was big and he did a great job.”

The lead didn’t last long though as in the next inning, a wild pitch by Perryville starting pitcher Logan Hoehn saw the Rams cross the plate and tie the game 1-1.

Perryville’s Tyler Jannin broke the 1-1 deadlock in the bottom of the third on a two-out single up the middle, pushing the Pirates ahead 2-1.

With the Rams trailing, they managed to have multiple opportunities with runners in scoring position, but were unable to cash in.

“We just didn’t execute,” Cobb said. “Those are plays we have to execute in order to manufacture runs in a game like this. It was really low scoring up until the sixth inning.”

Mashek tossed 4 innings for the Rams, allowing just two runs in the process as he gave way to Jackson Gloth in the bottom of the fifth inning.

As Perryville was clinging to a 2-1 lead, Jannin delivered again in the fifth inning, once again with two-outs, as he lined a single into right field to score Adam Green and double the Pirates’ lead.

After squandering multiple opportunities earlier in the game to score, the Rams pounced on Hoehne as he began tiring in the sixth.

The inning began with a walk to Scott City’s Luke Umfleet who was promptly pinch ran for with Evan Boswell entering to run at first base.

Boswell was quickly advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt where he stood with nobody out.

After a fly out by Jackson Gloth and a pair of hit-by-pitches, Perryville went to the bullpen as Caleb Triller took over.

The Rams got within a run on a throwing error by Dalton Fritsche trying to cut down a run at home.

In the ensuing at-bat, Kaden Lowery ripped a two-run single to right field, giving Scott City its first lead of the afternoon.

“Once we started scoring, things started to compound,” Cobb said. “It got the dugout going and we go as our energy goes.”

It took six innings, but the Rams offense had arrived as Panagos singled home a run and Kobe Watson put an exclamation point on the inning with a two-run single to make it 7-3 Rams entering the home half of the sixth.

“To extend the lead there was huge,” Cobb said.

Ask any coach and they’ll tell you the importance of a shut down inning on defense after a big offensive inning.

Gloth did just that, setting the Pirates down in order and preserving the 7-3 advantage heading to the seventh inning.

“We harp on that a lot,” Cobb said. “When we score a lot of runs and take momentum it’s important to be sure we keep that momentum.”

Perryville’s Adam Green ripped a two-run double, making it 7-5, to cut into the Rams’ lead in the bottom of the seventh.

The threat would stop there though, as Gloth retired the next two batters to secure the 7-5 win.

Perryville (6-5) returns to action at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, when the Pirates host Windsor (Imperial).

Scott City (20-1) returns home at 4:30 p.m on Friday, April 19, when the Rams host Meadow Heights at Scott City High School.