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3 players who give Perryville hope in playoffs
After finishing the regular season with 12 wins for the first time since 2018, the Perryville baseball team has something entering the Class 4 District 1 Tournament that they didn't have in recent years.
Hope.
In a five-team district, the Pirates are tied with tournament host Dexter with the second most wins in the field, second to their opponent, Fredericktown (13-6), a team that includes Marquand-Zion junior Braydan Homan. The two teams previously played this season, with the Pirates prevailing 5-4 on April 22.
A win on May 13 would put the Pirates in a position to win a long-elusive district championship. Perryville doubled its win total last year when the Pirates finished 8-18 in the first year of Don O'Keefe's second stint as head coach. Their rapid improvement has led to their first winning season since 2019.
"We're on the up since Coach O'Keefe has got here," Sophomore infielder/pitcher Waylon Huber said. "This year has been a big improvement from last year. We're still going up. We're going strong into districts."
There are many players who played a key role in turning the program around but three come to mind who give the Pirates hope in their pursuit of a district championship.
Troy O’Keefe, P
One of the motivators behind O’Keefe returning to the role as Perryville skipper is to coach his son, Troy O'Keefe. The junior has been the ace of the Pirates with a 1.17 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 46.1 innings pitched over eight appearances and seven starts. At the plate, he is also batting .424 (28-for-66) with 16 RBI at the top of the lineup.
After gaining 20 pounds through offseason training, O’Keefe is not just seeing the growth of a baseball player but also his kid grows up right in front of him.
“At some point, he made a decision that there was going to be energy,” O’Keefe said. “I'm seeing a kid that when he goes out there you go ‘this kid can play ball.’ I think it's really nice kind of watching not just as a coach, but as a father.”
Barrett Wheeler, C
Even as a sophomore, catcher Barrett Wheeler has developed a command of the pitching staff and played a role in Troy’s improvement, as well as others. A late-season slump dipped his batting average to .294 (20-for-68) but he remains as the leadoff hitter and his impact comes from behind the plate more than next to it.
“We don't communicate when Barrett goes out to the pitchers now. There's times where I’m about to go out and he already goes out for us,” O’Keefe said. “So that leadership that we want to see is there. He's got great energy. I think he's going to be going to be stronger and I think that energy can be infectious if people can feed off that.”
Grant Smith, OF
The Pirates also feature a senior slugger who grew with the program and recently signed to play at the junior college level at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff next year. Grant Smith batted .450 with 22 RBI and a pair of home runs during the regular season.
"You're talking about a young individual that freshman year, everybody was really excited about him and excited because Perryville just gone through some low times," O'Keefe said.
Grant grew with the program. The Pirates were 3-15 his freshman year and as he slowly developed as a player and teammate, so did the team.
"That sophomore and junior year he went through some injuries and even when he did that, there were things from a mental standpoint that he needed to wrap his head around," O'Keefe said. "When he gets frustrated, he would not express it. He would do things that were kind of self-destructive to himself.
"Now when I watch him, I see a young man that this year, he's a teammate," he said. "It's now someone that's having fun. Someone who sits and has conversations with people. Someone who has found his fit. I will tell you this, if he can stay on that path, I believe that he has the opportunity to be very successful at Three Rivers."