ALLEMAN — The Perry baseball team dropped an 11-1 decision to host North Polk in five innings Friday after winning their second game of the season the day before with a 5-0 triumph over winless West Central Valley in Stuart.
The non-conference split put Perry at 2-12 overall, with North Polk climbing to 12-7 while WCV dropped to 0-14.
Senior Avery Meister was in complete command Thursday, spinning a three-hit shut out in seven innings on the mound. He allowed just three hits and two walks and finished with a career-best 15 strikeouts.
Kato Dougan had two double and a single for Perry, with Caden Steva adding a single to a career-first triple. Gavin Hegstrom had two singles, with Fausto Beato, Keghan West and Meister providing hits. Eighth-graders Drake Levan and Kaelin Davis had their first varsity base hits, with Levan adding a first-ever varsity run and RBI.
Steva finished with two RBIs, with Meister and Beato also driving in runs. Dougan, Steva, Beato and Hegstrom joined Levan in scoring.
Perry scored once in the first inning, twice in the second and once again in the third before adding a final tally in the seventh.
Dougan, Hegstrom and West had the only three hits for Perry in Friday’s loss at North Polk. Hegstrom drove in Dougan — who also stole a base — in the first inning for the sole Bluejay tally.
North Polk countered the Perry run in the opening frame with four of their own, then swelled the lead to 9-1 with five scores in the second. Two runs in the fifth ended the game early, the 11th time in 12 losses for Perry that a game was ended via the mercy rule.
Dougan pitched one frame, Beato 1-2/3 and Carter Iben 1-2/3. Dougan allowed eight runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks, with Beato touched for an unearned run on a hit and six walks while Iben surrendered two runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman. Both Dougan and Beato had three strikeouts, with Iben recording one.
Statistical information from both WCV and North Polk was not available.
Perry will conclude their regular season Wednesday when Winterset visits Progressive Field. The Bluejays will visit Ballard Friday for the first round of the postseason.
