Senior Keghan West was, as the saying goes, “dialed in” Monday on the mound at Progressive Field.
The Perry senior spun five innings of hitless ball en route to 6-1/3 frames of one-hit scoreless baseball. The Bluejay hurler issued only two walks while sitting 10 down on strikes to help his team end a 35-game losing skid.
Perry (1-10) was an 8-0 victor over non-conference opponent AC/GC (4-12), collecting their first victory since a 17-11 besting of visiting Winterset July 11, 2018.
First year head coach Aaron Lyons said West, who is off to Central College, had “pitched like a college pitcher tonight” and that his teammates had “capitalized (on breaks) when we needed to.”
Perry batters were hit by pitches eight times in the win. Plunks to Kato Dougan, West and Avery Meister loaded the bases to start the bottom of the first. Clean-up hitter Gavin Hegstrom then drew a walk to force in a run and help spark what became a four-run inning.
The Jays tacked on a run in the fourth to open a 5-0 lead, with the margin swelling to 8-0 after three Perry players touched the plate in the fifth.
West had two runners on when he struck out his 10th and final batter for the first out of the sixth. Dougan relieved, and while one Charger reached base, he induced a force out at the plate and then struck out the final batter to preserve the shutout.
Meister had two hits and a RBI and Carter Iben a hit and a RBI to help the Perry offense.
Miles Kading had a single for AC/GC. He also walked and stole a base, with Newell Rogers hit by a pitch while Clayton Wardyn walked.
Bryce Littler started and went four innings, yielding seven runs (six earned) on five hits. He struck out two, walked three, and hit six. Lance Bunde went two frames in relief, allowing a walk and two hits. He struck out two and surrendered a run.
Perry visits Nevada (4-10) tonight, West Central Valley (0-12) Thursday and North Polk (8-6) Friday.
