Perry High School Home of the Pumas is located at 1919 e Queen Creek Rd. Gilbert AZ 85297.
Pumas finish second in prestigious Boras Classic
March 11, 2017
The varsity baseball team and Basic Academy (Henderson, NV) passed the lead back-and-forth in an early-season classic, but eventually Basic prevailed 6-5 in the first ever Boras Baseball Classic in Arizona.
The game championship game, which was televised on ESPN, marked the first time any PHS sport has been televised by the World Wide Leader, and was the conclusion of a great week of elite baseball.
During the tournament, the Pumas went 3-1. They opened the Classic by beating Prescott 11-3, where junior pitcher Colton Gates came in early relief to shut down the Badgers, who broke open a 3-0 first inning lead. Gates threw six innings of shut-out relief, allowed only three hits and struck out two. Junior Matty Brown lead the way for the Pumas with three RBI on two hits.
On Thursday, the Pumas faced off against host Corona del Sol in a pitchers duel between sophomores Caden Christopherson and Corona sophomore Daniel Sotelo.
The game was scoreless with both pitchers trading shut-out innings until senior outfielder Jacob Tanaka laced a two-out double down the left field line, driving in seniors Coleman Roberts and Trevor Hauver, giving PHS a 2-0 lead.
Sophomore Adam Parra would close the door for his first career save, and the Pumas won 2-1, sending them to the tournament semifinals.
Perry then faced a high-energy Coronado team. Junior pitcher Ty Pohlman kept Coronado hitters guessing, and the hitters did the rest, as they routed the Henderson, NV team, 13-3. Seniors Tommy Sacco and Cody Holtz lead the way with three RBI a piece. Pohlman went the distance, allowing only five hits in six innings and striking out six hitters.
PHS took the lead for good with seven runs in the fourth inning. In the fourth, Roberts singled, driving in one run, Hauver doubled, driving in one run, Tanaka singled, driving in one run, and Brown hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run.
The Pumas had ten hits in the game. Junior Wyatt Crenshaw, Tanaka and Roberts each collected multiple hits for Perry. The win meant that PHS would represent the state of Arizona in the championship against Basic from Nevada.
Sophomore pitcher Ryan Blech took the ball and shut the Wolves down in order in the top of the first, and his offense gave him an early lead in the bottom half of the frame when Tanaka singled, scoring one run. Perry added three additional runs in the first.
In the top of the fourth inning, Basic tied things up at five with some good situational hitting. Erik Cruz grounded out, scoring one run. Basic’s big inning was driven by a single by John Howard, a error, a groundout by Jack Wold, and a groundout.
The night offered another special moment when senior pitcher Buddy Brownlee took the ball in the top of the sixth inning for the first time in nearly 16 months. The Perry dugout and fans gave him an ovation; his first pitch was a strike and he quickly struck out the first two hitters he faced. The dugout and crowd went nuts.
Unfortunately the Wolves were able to muster a pair of two-strike, two-out hits and they scratched across a run on a blooper to shallow center field, giving them the 6-5 lead.
Senior pitcher Dusing Schorie threw a perfect 7th inning, and despite loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, Basic was able to hold off the Puma hitters just enough and take the Boras Classic title.
Roberts was named the game’s defensive Most Valuable Player, and Tanaka lead all Puma hitters with nine hits and seven RBI throughout the tournament.
Go PUMAS!
If you want to learn more on team schedule or even the booster club.. check out… @http://www.mychandlerschools.org/page/2
