Pirates endure growing pains through 2022 baseball season

Perryville sophomore pitcher Caleb Triller unleashes a throw against Jackson recently at Jackson Stadium.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

The Perryville High School baseball season came to a sinking close on Saturday with an 8-1 loss to Potosi in the opening round of the MSHSAA Class 4 District 2 Tournament.

Over the Pirates (4-16) final two games, they were outscored 18-1, which wasn’t necessarily an accurate display of the potential of this group.

“We’ve managed through our youth,” first-year Pirate coach Matthew Schonhoff said recently. “We’ve managed through injuries throughout the year. Injuries are not an excuse…”

Perhaps neither is youth, but injuries and youth are legitimate reasons for why a program goes 4-16 against a Class 4 schedule in Southeast Missouri, which is filled with talented baseball teams regardless of school size.

Perryville had 18 players on its roster with 13 of those athletes being freshmen or sophomores.

The Pirates did not field a junior varsity squad because its younger players were busy competing against 17- and 18-year-olds at the varsity level.

“These kids have battled,” Schonhoff said. “We’ve had games where we were close. We had a chance.”

Perryville sophomore catcher Elijah Derickson works behind the plate during a recent game against Jackson at Jackson Stadium (Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com)

That isn’t hyperbole on the part of a coach who loves his players.

In the final weeks of the regular season, Perryville fell 2-0 in 10 innings to Charleston, lost 3-2 at Hillsboro, and scored 10 runs in a loss to a 10-win Fredericktown squad.

“Early in the year,” Schonhoff explained, “we had a lot of games that we were ahead, certain things would happen, and then things snowballed.”

That is what happens to a team that has just one senior (outfielder Justin Wingerter).

The Pirates played competitive baseball early on against Notre Dame (a 5-2 loss), St. Vincent (another 5-2 defeat), and beat an eight-win DeSoto team 7-5.

“Give credit to our kids,” Schonhoff continued, “our kids always fight. They always plug away.

“There is really no quit in them.”

Perryville rolled out a lineup in a regular-season finale against Jackson that featured three freshmen and four sophomores in the starting lineup. Conversely, the Indians had more upperclassmen on its varsity roster than Perryville had players, period.

Pirate freshman Tyler Peeler returned from a recently broken nose and played exemplary defense at third base, while offensively, he drew a pair of walks.

The Pirates mustered just one hit that day off Jackson pitching, and it was achieved by freshmen Troy O’Keefe, who started at shortstop defensively.

Freshman Dalton Fritsche was the Pirates’ designated hitter, while sophomores Adam Green (second base), Grant Smith (first base), Elijah Derickson (catcher), and Tyler Jannin (right field) also started.

Sophomore pitcher Caleb Triller worked 3 2/3 innings of relief against Jackson.

Schonhoff saw growth all season from his team in varying areas but was pleased with his team’s improvement in the field.

“Our defense has gotten better,” Schonhoff said. “All in all, we have had some good, complete games out of our guys but sometimes our youth has gotten us a little bit. That is the way that baseball is sometimes.

From 2014 through 2019, Perryville strung together five winning seasons and was 11-12-1 in the other spring. With 17 of its 18 players returning in 2023, there is hope that this program can get back to its winning ways after winning just seven times combined over the past two seasons.

“We have great kids and they work hard,” Schonhoff said.