Bryce Hoyle’s two-out double in the top of the seventh broke a 1-all tie and lifted Greene County to a 2-1 win over Perry in non-conference baseball at Progressive Field Thursday.[wpedon id=”82220″ align=”center”]
Greene County (1-0) had tied the contest when Wade Adcock launched a monstrous solo home run to left-center field while leading off the sixth. The dinger was the first of his career.
The tally came after Perry (0-3) had broken a scoreless tie in the fourth.
Alexis Garrido was aboard with a single when Aaron Lockwood lined out to third baseman Austin Delp. He fired across the diamond to double-off Garrido but the throw sailed high, with Garrido scampering for second.
He was faked into sliding into the bag by the Ram defense, who feinted as if a throw were imminent. Legal in collegiate and professional baseball, such a play is illegal in high school, with Garrido awarded third base.
It hardly mattered, as he would have scored anyway when the next batter, Gavin Boyer, doubled to straight-away center field. A passed ball moved courtesy runner Kyle Lockwood to third, but he was stranded after a strikeout.
Garrido went six innings on the hump for Perry, allowing an earned run on four hits. The senior struggled with his control, walking five batters and hitting two with pitches, but he also tallied seven strikeouts and continually worked out of jams, stranding nine runners on base.
Austin Carpenter relieved, and after a ground out and strikeout issued a two-out walk to Adcock, who came all the way around to score on Hoyle’s follow-up double. A fly out ended the inning, but the damage had been done.
Perry went down in order in the sixth and seventh (as well as the first and second) innings as Benjamin Wilkins earned the win with an impressive showing. He allowed Garrido’s single and Boyer’s RBI-double but no other hits while issuing four walks and striking out nine.
Perry is off until hosting Carroll Wednesday and Boone Thursday, with a trip to ADM set for June 1. Due to a shortened roster and the implementation of the pitch-count rule, the Bluejays will not participate in any Saturday tournament games this season.
