Starkville head baseball coach Luke Adkins could only look on in dismay.
On the heels of a 1-0 loss to Hernando in the opening round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association playoffs Saturday, there were plenty of missed opportunities.
In the batter’s box, the Yellow Jackets left a runner on second in four of the seven innings.
More pressing was the wasted performance of his starter junior left-hander Jack Perry.
In six innings of work, Perry pounded the strike zone with a combination of fastballs, changeups and breaking balls.
“He had all three (pitches) working in the zone last night,” Starkville coach Luke Adkins said Sunday.
Needing just 82 pitches, Perry gave up just three hits and one unearned run while striking out nine.
Based on that performance, Perry wins the Dispatch High School Player of the Week.
Prepping for the playoff start, he tweaked his fastball in the bullpen pregame. Perry found he had was throwing the pitch with more sink after fussing with a new grip.
“As soon as I stepped on the mound I could tell I was locked in,” he said. “I was ready go. And then once I threw that first pitch I just kind of got in that rhythm and never really got out of it.”
Monday, Starkville’s season came to a close with an 11-1, six-inning defeat in game two against Hernando at home.
Like Saturday, there were missed chances. Perry was 0-for-2 and the plate and reached base on an error.
Yet in a loss such as Monday’s, it magnified his game one brilliance.
“I just love the way he brings his lunch pail with him every day,” Adkins said. “He’s a really high character kid. He’d definitely be a foxhole kind of guy.”
The Yellow Jackets finished the season at 11-15 in Adkins’ first year at the helm.
Following the loss, Perry reflected on the season.
“Coach was talking to us after the game and he came in and he told us that at the start of the year we only had two or three guys that had any experience so we’re really young,” he said. “So I think going into next season I like where we are.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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