Two familiar opponents will square off tonight for the right to move into Wednesday night’s SubState Final as the Perry Bluejays and Boone Torreadors meet for the third time this season. It will be the rubber match with each team winning on their home diamond during the course of the regular season.
“We played much better in the second game with them,” added Perry Coach Mike Long, who collected his 693rd win of his career in Friday’s 2-0 win over Webster City. “We walked a ton of guys and played terrible defense in the first meeting with Boone and they had the timely hits to make us pay. The second game was completely different. Kyle threw strikes and we played solid defense all the way around. We have to play good defense if we’re going to have a shot tonight.”
Boone enters the game with a mark of 21-10 and have won 6 of their last 8 games including a 12-0 wipeout of Nevada in Friday’s opening round.
“They hit the ball up and down the lineup,” states Long. “That’s what worries me the most. They are a real balanced team offensively and 9 different guys can beat you. It will be a tough challenge.’
Perry will look to either Kyle Nevitt or Janier Puente to make the start tonight at Memorial Park. Nevitt is certainly battle tested despite his sophomore tag. The 6 foot 5 inch athlete scored a season high 28 points in the most important basketball game of the year for Perry in the spotlight of the Substate Finals. “Absolutely that should help his confidence. He has played in one of the biggest stages and performed very well. That’s one of the reasons I really encourage our student athletes to play multiple sports. It can benefit you in so many ways and Kyle showed he can handle the pressure of the moment.”
Storm Wagner has been the most impressive pitcher for a deep Boone squad this year with a 1.89 era while freshman Dresdin Wilson has been solid as well posting a 2.55 era. Both pitchers are fully rested after Jake Mallas threw all 5 innings Friday night in tossing the shutout.
Perry managed five hits in their victory Friday night. Long knows that they will have to hit the ball even more tonight. “Baseball is such a mental game. We really hit the ball and strike the ball well in practice so I know we can do it. I’m hoping it will be one of those games where we put everything together and get our offense rolling.”
Shawn Kenney will have the play by play tonight beginning at 6:35 with the Perry Hy-Vee Mike Long Pre-game show with first pitch slated for 7:00. It can be heard on KDLS AM 1310 and the All New 99.7 FM and online at raccoonvalleyradio.com.