The final out was recorded past 7:45, but the Booneville Bearcats opened the 2022 baseball season with a 13-6 win over Perryville Tuesday at the Billy Kiersey Baseball/Softball Complex.
It looked like the game would end in five innings via the “run rule” but an untimely error prolonged the fifth inning, Perryville scored five times and the game wound up going the distance through a combined 327 pitches.
Brooks Herrera had gone the first three innings striking out seven and allowing only one hit. He had pitched around three walks and a hit batter, stranding five Mustangs.
Herrera had also led off the game with a home run to center. It was his first career home run.
The Bearcats (1-0) tacked on another first inning run through a pair of walks, a dropped infield fly that allowed runners to advance and a passed ball.
Dunn Daniel doubled in the second, chasing pinch runner Cody Elliott to third and both would score on a passed ball and a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
Herrera stranded the bases loaded in the top of the third with his seventh strike out of the game. Perryville left 14 aboard in the game.
Rylen Ray singled down the third base line to start the Bearcat third and Peyton Tatum bunted his way into a single.
Matt O’Bar (shown) sacrificed both into scoring position and Casey Mattson got a run home with a ground ball. The lead grew to 6-0 on another wild pitch.
Herrera started the fourth by issuing a walk – one of eight by Bearcat pitching and 18 in the game – and was lifted having reached the pitch count set by head coach Arron Kimes.
Freshman Jace Washburn would strike out the side with the last two coming with two runners in scoring position after a double by Connor Firth.
Dax Goff doubled home two runs in the bottom of the inning and Tatum singled for his second RBI to make it 9-0. The lead reached the “run-rule” limit when Gage Broussard reached on a dropped third strike.
Washburn had two down and two aboard in the Perryville fifth when an error allowed two runs to score and a fly ball that fell in right field got another.
After a hit batter – there were a combined five of them – and a walk made it 10-4, Matt O’Bar came on and issued another walk that made it 10-5 before getting out of the inning.
Goff became the second hitter to reach on a strike out in the bottom of the fifth and ended up on third – two runners aboard via walks scored – when the throw went into right field.
Goff scored on a sacrifice bunt by Tatum and it was 13-5.
Perryville tacked on another run on a two out error in the sixth but Dylan Todd got around a single and a walk in the seventh to finally close it out.
The Bearcats will next play at Alma Thursday.
