On days when the ball isn’t dropping for many hits, good baseball teams will take advantage of other opportunities to score runs.

That’s what Perry did in its matchup with visiting Geneva on May 9. The Pirates managed just six hits against the Eagles’ pitching, but used aggressive baserunning to put up a pair of big innings on the way to an 11-5 victory.

Perry won its fourth straight game, improving to 16-6, and has gone 11-1 over its last 12. The Pirates clinched the outright CVC Chagrin Division championship earlier in the week, finishing 10-0 after a sweep of West Geauga.

Geneva fell to 7-11 overall, dropping its fourth game in its last five. The game with Perry is not counted as a league game since the Eagles play in the CVC Lake.

The game was knotted at 2-2 in the middle of the fourth inning, but the Pirates scored five runs in the bottom of the frame and added four more in the sixth to win going away.

Perry did its damage on four hits in those two frames, two apiece. But the Pirates also capitalized on a pair of walks, four errors by the Eagles and a hit by pitch.

@PerryPiratesBB 2B Justin Costello, who scored 3 runs and stole two bases, reviews Perry’s 11-5 win over Geneva pic.twitter.com/lrHhHBCMak

— Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) May 9, 2026

“I think being aggressive on the basepaths really won us the game,” Perry second baseman Justin Costello said. “We have three guys in the top 10 of The News-Herald in steals (Costello, Chase Sivon and Brody Petruccelli). Just working counts, eliminating strikeouts, and just getting on base really wins us games.”

Freshman left-hander Clayton French got the start on the mound for the Pirates, and got off to a great start, retiring the Eagles in order in the first.

Costello led off the bottom of the frame with a walk, and scored two batters later on Carter Hopkins’ double, giving Perry a 1-0 lead.

French kept Geneva off the scoreboard in the second inning, working around a pair of singles, but ran into trouble in the third.

An infield single by Nate Hutchins followed by two hit batters loaded the bases with no outs for Geneva. Bryce Junker, the Eagles’ starting pitcher, grounded into a double play, but Hutchins scored from third to tie the game. Max Cochran later scored on a balk to give Geneva a 2-1 advantage.

Costello put an example of aggressive baserunning on display in the bottom of the third. After reaching base on a third strike passed ball by the Eagles’ catcher, he stole second and came all the way around on a wild pitch to make it 2-2.

Junker kept Geneva in the game through the first three innings, limiting Perry to two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out six. But errors, of both the mental and physical varieties, that have plagued the Eagles this season helped lead to a the five-run fourth for the Pirates.

A strikeout, walk and sacrifice bunt to start the frame left Perry with Nick Gustin on second base and two outs. But back-to-back fielding errors precipitated a pair of runs for the Pirates, and after a walk, a two-run double by Trent Taylor and RBI double by Michal Niedzwicki afforded Perry a 7-2 lead.

Geneva responded to get back into the game in the fifth, using five walks and a single, along with three wild pitches, to pull within 7-5. Logan Rustic singled with the bases full, and Hutchins drew a bases-loaded walk in the frame.

Ryland Besco came on in relief of Junker in the fifth and got a popup, strikeout and lineout in succession. The Eagles followed with a pair of singles in the sixth and a stolen base by Kaiden Cottrell to put runners on second and third with two outs.

But Perry freshman Nolan Andrejack, the Pirates’ third pitcher of the game after French and Gustin, induced a groundout for the third out to eliminate the scoring threat.

Singles by Sivon and Niedzwicki combined with a hit by pitch and two more Geneva errors, allowed the Pirates to extend their lead to 11-5 in the bottom of the sixth.

Andrejack hit a batter and gave up a single to Brendon Fobell in the seventh to put two runners on with two outs, but fielded a grounder from the subsequent batter and tossed it to first for the final out.

Fobell and Meadows each had a pair of singles for the Eagles, who finished with seven hits. Junker and Besco combined to strike out 11 batters, but errors proved to be costly for Geneva.

@AthleticsGeneva Coach Jonathan Fobell talks about the Eagles’ 11-5 loss at Perry pic.twitter.com/TDG5v2TtE7

— Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) May 9, 2026

“That’s kind of been our season,” first-year Geneva coach Jonathan Fobell said. “We can play good baseball, but then you have a mental error, and instead of being mentally strong, they let it fall apart. They let it carry over to the next pitch, next play. We’re just trying to work through that.”

Niedzwicki had two hits for Perry. Costello crossed the plate three times and stole two bases. Hopkins had a pair of runs and two base thefts, and Sivon and Taylor each scored twice.

@PerryPiratesBB Coach Matt Platt breaks down the Pirates’ 11-5 win over Geneva and looks ahead to the last week of the regular season. If Perry sweeps its last four games, the Pirates will have 20 wins going into the postseason tournament pic.twitter.com/tuZlmGLvmj

— Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) May 9, 2026

“Some days when you’re not hitting the ball, you have to find different ways to do it, grind out at-bats,” Perry coach Matt Platt said. “I was actually really impressed with Geneva’s arms. They have some talent there.

“We found ways to get on base, put the ball in play. We like to run the bases, so it worked out well.”

Geneva will travel to Berkshire on May 11 and South on May 13, and may pick up a third game for May 15 to close out its regular season before moving on to the Division III tournament.

Perry, in D-IV this season, is scheduled to play four times next week. The Pirates will visit CVC Lake champ Jefferson on May 11, host St. John and Lakeside, and close the regular season with a visit to defending Division IV state champion Lake Catholic on May 15.

Both home games will be 7:30 under-the-lights affairs, weather permitting.

“We have a good week lined up this week,” Platt said. “We have senior night and youth night. Some good baseball, just what you want before the start of the tournament. We’re excited for the week ahead, and to keep rolling.”

THE SCORE

Perry 11, Geneva 5