Blue Jays baseball team wastes no time

PERRY TOWNSHIP - Solid pitching and timely hitting are two key elements to any baseball team's success.

Delphos St. John's (10-14) rode the strong arm of right-handed pitcher Joel Pohlman and some timely hitting up and down the order to grab an 8-2 win over Perry (10-9) in the Division IV sectional championship Thursday at Perry.

The Blue Jays advance to district action where they will meet Miller City at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Shawnee.

The Blue Jays wasted no time in letting the Commodores know that aggressiveness was the order of the day when lead-off hitter Ty Bergfeld hit a ringing double to left field on the first pitch of the game.

"We wanted to grab the momentum and I got a good pitch to hit," Bergfeld said. "It gave everyone confidence and we attacked the ball at the plate."

Perry right hander Trevor Wallace retired the next two batters before Blue Jays catcher Chris Pohlman drove in Bergfeld with a solid single to give Delphos a 1-0 lead that they would never relinquish.

The Blue Jays scored twice more in the second when Bergfeld registered his second double of the game, driving in Brandon Hempker. Mitchell Mclellan singled home Bergfeld to give the Jays a 3-0 lead.

Single runs in the third and fifth gave Delphos a 5-0 lead before Perry bounced back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Tanner Hunt reached on an error and Shane Cockerell singled before Brey Buetner doubled home both runs to pull the Commodores to within 5-2.

Unfortunately for Perry, it was too little too late and the Blue Jays added three more runs in the sixth inning to put the game away at 8-2.

Pohlman pitched a complete game four-hitter to go along with five strike-outs as he improved to 3-4 on the season.

"He's (Pohlman) excitable and tried to throw too hard early," Delphos St. John's coach Dan Metzger said. "Once he got into the flow of the game, he got ahead in the count and kept the ball outside."

But Metzger knows there are things the Blue Jays must improve on if they want a return trip to the regionals this year.

"We had two runners picked off and committed three errors," Metzger said. "Those mistakes will kill you as the teams are only going to get better the farther you go in the tournament."

Perry bows out bent but not broken.

"We made some mistakes and got behind the eight-ball," Perry coach Jon Shively said. "We hit the ball hard but they were right at someone. Delphos was the better team today. We will miss our seniors and be proud of what this team accomplished."