BLANCHARDVILLE — Despite eight days between games, 2-seed Pecatonica handed 7-seed Potosi-Cassville a 9-1 loss in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal May 29. The Vikings sent eight batters to the plate and scored three runs each in the first two innings. 

“It’s best to make a statement today because I think a lot of people have been counting us out because we lost to Belmont,” senior catcher Elijah Knutson said. “They think we aren’t as good as we actually are. It’s nice to make a statement and show people we actually can play.”

After a 1-2-3 inning from Jameson Johnson on the bump, Tyler McKeon led off the bottom of the first with a single down the third baseline and stole second. Johnson and Knutson hit back-to-back RBI doubles for a 2-0 lead. Carson Kurschner laid down a sacrifice bunt that had just too much air under it, and Eli Adams made a diving catch off the mound. He attempted to double up pinch runner Trevor Doescher, but Adams’s throw went into the outfield, allowing Doescher to take third.

Grady Gordon then laid down a suicide squeeze up the first baseline. Ezra Groom’s flip to the plate was too late, as Doescher slid home safely. Lukas Rue kept the inning going with a single up the middle and took second on catcher’s indifference. Adams got out of the inning by striking out Max Steele and getting Charles Anderson to ground out to shortstop.

Johnson faced one batter over the minimum in the second, putting the bats back in his teammates hands.

Austin Enloe led off the bottom of the frame with a four-pitch walk and stole second. McKeon hit the ball on the nose in his at bat, but center fielder Jaxon Oyen retired him with a diving catch. Johnson then drew a four-pitch walk, and he and Enloe moved up 90 feet on a passed ball. Knutson lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Enloe. 

Kurschner then lined a ball to left that outfielder Nolan Pierce misplayed, allowing a run to score and Kurschner to stand on second. Gordon sent another ball to left, this time an RBI double. 

“Once one guy gets a hit, we use that as momentum,” Knutson said. “Everybody keeps swinging at fastballs and hitting them early in counts. Everyone strings them together and gets on base.” 

Instead of going down in order in the third, Potosi-Cassville scratched a run across. After falling behind 3-1, Johnson retired the leadoff batter on a high fastball. Gordon then missed a diving catch in left, allowing Damian Bauer to stand on second. He took third on a passed ball and scored on an RBI groundout from Adams. 

“I know it’s hard to play baseball and keep that intensity up for the whole game. At the same time, the momentum can switch in a hurry. That’s the part that I’m trying to stress,” Pecatonica head coach Jim Strommen said. “Every pitch is important and every play is important. I saw a number of scores around the state that were 1-0 games. It matters.”

The Vikings erased the score with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. Anderson drew a full-count walk and took second on a ball in the dirt. Enloe bunted up the first baseline and reached on an error by Groom. McKeon then drove in Anderson with a groundout to third. 

The next two innings were pitcher’s duels between Johnson and relief pitcher Aidan Uppena. Johnson threw just 18 pitches in those two innings, striking out three batters. He also caught a high pop-up just off the pitcher’s mound.

“We knew a lot of guys didn’t like inside fastballs or curveballs,” Knutson said of his pitch calling for Johnson. “The plan of attack was if they were a good hitter, think about throwing a first-pitch curveball, or it would be a first-pitch inside fastball. If they hit that, we’d throw a high fastball or work them outside.”

Johnson struck out two more in the sixth.

With one out in the bottom of the frame, Kurschner lined an RBI double to deep right field, scoring pinch runner Doescher. The hit forced yet another pitching change to Kolton Vogelsberg. Gordon brought another run across with a sacrifice fly, and pinch hitter Levi Krebs singled on the first pitch of his at bat. Vogelsberg ended the inning with a strikeout.

Down to their last outs, the Chieftains came out swinging. Johnson gave up a leadoff single on the first pitch to Dawson Weber, but McKeon had his pitcher’s back. He let an easy pop fly by Vogelsberg drop, leading to a 6-4-3 double play. Johnson then ended the game with a strikeout.

He earned the win, throwing 83 pitches over seven innings. Johnson gave up one unearned run on three hits, struck out nine and didn’t issue a walk. At the plate, Rue led the way, going 1-for-1 with two walks and two steals. 

Despite the win, Strommen knew his team had more in the tank. The Vikings left eight runners on base. With top teams like 1-seed Belmont, 2-seed Palmyra Eagle and defending state champion 1-seed Ithaca getting eliminated early by overlooking lower seeded teams, Strommen knows each run counts.

“I thought we left some runs out there. Twice we had second and third with one out and didn’t score — that’s two opportunities to get some more runs, especially early in the game against a team like Potosi,” Strommen said. “We can’t let that foot off the pedal. We’ve done that at times this year, where we’ve left guys out on the bases. Good performance overall. We still scored nine runs.”