ADEL — When things are not going to right way for a team it is often a case of wondering when — not if — something bad will happen. The reverse, of course, is also true, as teams on a winning streak are often simply waiting to catch a break they believe is coming.
The real magic, of course, is keeping the latter trend alive when your team is on one, and of finding a way to reverse course when the opposite is true.
Very often a close, heartbreaking loss is what sets a team ‘free’ and turns the tables, as it were, and the Perry baseball team certainly falls in the latter category.
Perry entered Wednesday’s Raccoon River Conference game at ADM winless in eight games and 0-5 in league play, with ADM beginning the outing 6-4, 3-1.
The hosts raced to a 6-1 lead after two frames, and for Perry — which had scored all of 10 runs in their first eight games — the chances of a victory had to appear bleak.
However, the players (and coaches, no doubt) must have felt otherwise, for the Bluejay offense suddenly exploded for eight runs in the top of the third to surge into a 9-6 lead.
All five of Perry’s hits came in the frame, with two batters walking and two others hit by pitches. The big blow came when Kaleb Olejniczak drove in three runs with a bases-loaded triple.
An aggressive decision to try and stretch the play into a triple paid off, as the Tigers threw the ball away trying to nail the speed senior, with Olejniczak scampering home to score.
ADM scored twice in the fourth and once in the fifth to tie the game at 9-all, but Olejniczak walked and worked his way around the bases to give Perry a short-lived 10-9 lead.
The Tigers tied the game back up with a run in the bottom of the sixth, then spoiled the game for the Jays with a pair of one-out hits, followed by an infield error that allowed the winning run to score.
Keghan West went all the way for Perry and was, for the second consecutive outing, doomed by unearned runs, as four of the Tiger tallies came off Bluejay miscues. West walked two batters and hit one while allowing 12 hits.
Olejniczak added a single to his triple and scored three times, with Justin Stammer, Avery Meister and Caden Steva providing hits. Conner Kenyon and Alex Morales were both hit by a pitch, with Meister scoring twice.
Kolton Benz pitched 2-2/3 innings for the hosts, yielding nien runs (seven earned) on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Chase Anderson went 2-1/3 frames, striking out four, with Joe Finnegan the winner with two innings of relief, during which he allowed an unearned run on a walk while fanning three.
Perry will host Saydel (1-9) at Progressive Field tonight before playing at home four times next week. The Jays will host Winterset Monday, North Polk Tuesday, Carroll Wednesday and Boone Thursday.
