BLANCHARDVILLE — With 14 strikeouts from its pitching staff, six hits, three stolen bases and three sacrifice bunts, Pecatonica used all its tools in the tool box to defeat Six Rivers East rival Barneveld 7-2 on Monday, April 15.

“Barneveld is our biggest rival on this side. For years on end, it’s always come down to us playing for first place,” Pecatonica head coach Jim Strommen said. “We always know the importance of this game, especially early in the season. Playing from ahead is so much easier than playing from behind. It’s a great win for us tonight.”

Barneveld loaded the bases in the first inning with just one out, and it appeared that the Eagles would break the game open right away.

That’s when starting pitcher Tyler McKeon bore down. After giving up two hits and hitting their No. 4 batter, McKeon sat down the next two batters via strikeout — both of them looking. 

Instead of letting the pressure of bases loaded get to him, McKeon thought back to last year’s sectional final game against Johnson Creek when the Bluejays loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“When I got bases loaded the first inning, it felt like the sectional final game — I couldn’t let them score,” McKeon said.

McKeon rode the momentum from defense to offense, where he led off the inning with a hit. He stole second on a pitch in the dirt and slid safely into third after Casey Helgeson’s pick-off throw went into the outfield.

Helgeson then struck out Jameson Johnson but walked three-hole hitter Elijah Knutson on four straight pitches. Strommen then elected to play small ball — a strategy more commonly used in fastpitch softball than baseball.

Carson Kurschner bunted up the first baseline, and Helgeson’s throw to first was too high. The error allowed McKeon to score and put runners on second and third. Austin Enloe followed suit, dropping down a safety squeeze that scored pinch runner Trevor Doescher. Max Steele capped the 3-run first with an RBI single.

“I learned a lot of my small ball from fastpitch softball,” Strommen said. “I know how important it is to get bunts down, and our kids did a great job, especially the safety squeezes. We say if they get it up the first baseline and you see the pitcher’s number chasing it, you’re off.”

After a quick, 9-pitch top of the second, Pecatonica went back to work.

McKeon drew a two-out walk and stole second. Johnson then hit an infield single to the shortstop, putting runners on the corners. McKeon’s speed produced a run again, as he scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0 Pecatonica.

Barneveld went down on just seven pitches in the top of the third, as McKeon struck out leadoff batter Terek Marx and got Helgeson and Gavin Fishnick to groundout to Johnson at shortstop.

Kurschner led off the bottom of the frame with a single up the middle and stole second. Third baseman Brock Malin played back in case Kurschner attempted to steal third, allowing Enloe to drop down a bunt single up the third baseline. Steele sacrificed his at bat, bunting up the first baseline for an RBI.

Enloe took third and scored on wild pitches in Talen Haven’s at bat. Lukas Rue then reached on an error by the shortstop, forcing a mound visit. With Helgeson right at the 75-pitch mark, Barneveld head coach Lance Schmitz pulled him. Had Helgeson thrown just one more pitch, he would have had to rest three days instead of just two.

Relief pitcher Kadyn Schlimgen escaped the jam by getting McKeon to fly out to center, but the damage had been done. Pecatonica led 6-0 after three innings.

The Vikings loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and were poised to enforce the 10-run rule with the heart of their order up. Ty Thousand, who came in for relief in that inning, got Johnson to ground into a fielder’s choice.

The little jolt of momentum was all Barneveld needed to rally. McKeon walked Helgeson to lead off the top of the sixth and gave up a hit to Fishnick. He then hit Trenton Owens to load the bases. Pecatonica caught a break, as Thousand hit into a 1-2-3 double play.

The play proved pivotal, as the next batter lined a two-out 2-RBI single to right. Steele relayed the throw in to Johnson, who tagged Malin out attempted to stretch his single to a double, ending the inning.

“It was massive,” McKeon said of the double play. “Coach Strommen always preaches, ‘If it’s back at you, what are you going to do with it?’ Before that pitch, me and Elijah did that. We practice that every day, so it’s good to see it pay off.”

The Vikings made the top of the seventh interesting — committing an error, giving up a hit and walking two batters to load the bases — but relief pitcher Rue got Fishnick to ground out to end the game. Johnson’s throw to Hendrickson at first pulled him off the bag, but Hendrickson had the foresight to tag Fishnick.

Steele led the offense, going 2-for-3 with one run scored and 2 RBIs. Kurschner and Enloe also drove runs in. At leadoff, McKeon was 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and a stolen base. 

On the bump, McKeon gave up two earned runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out 12. Eight of those strikeouts were looking.

“It was a little bit of both,” McKeon said, crediting his pitch mix and location to keeping Barneveld off-balance. “Elijah likes to call a curveball the first time. I want to throw a curveball, and they (Barneveld) know I want to throw a curveball. So, I shake it off. We go through the rest of my pitches, shake them off, and come right back to a curveball. I like doing that. Painting corners is nice.”