BOURBON – The Tippecanoe Valley Vikings didn't just shut the door on the Triton Trojans Monday evening, they slammed it. Already leading Triton's varsity baseball team 7-1, the Vikings doubled their run total in the sixth inning, as they cruised to a 14-1 win in Bourbon. Valley improved to 3-1 on the season with the dominating victory, while the hosts fell to 0-2. “The biggest thing I try to tell our guys is get it out of accident range,” said first-year Valley head coach Justin Branock. “Yeah, up 7-1 seems comfortable, but we found out Saturday against Elkhart Central that it's not always enough. We let Elkhart Central back in the game Saturday, and I keep telling them get it out of accident range. Don't be satisfied being up 7-1 and put it in cruise control. Keep putting the pressure on. Now, once we get it up to a 10-run lead or so, I'm not gonna embarrass my opponent, so we'll back it off a little bit at that time, but until we get it out of that six- or seven-run range we're gonna keep the pedal on, keep pushing the envelope and keep trying to get extra-base hits and things like that.” The Vikings sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth inning, scoring their seven runs on six hits. Juniors Gavin Bussard and Brandon Webster had two hits each for the Vikings in the big inning. As a team, Triton had just one hit the entire game, a single by senior Spencer Glingle in the second inning. While Triton's Skyler Reichert and Cordale Keyser struggled to sit the Vikings down, Valley's Luke Helton was in control. The right-handed hurler worked all six innings for the win, giving up just the one hit and one run, while striking out seven and walking three. “He threw really good,” first-year Triton head coach Brad Hargrave said of Helton. “He had a little heat, and he went the whole game ... six innings, that's pretty good. He threw a great game, he did. He put the ball over the plate. We just have to hit it.” On the flip side of things, Reichert started the game on the mound for Triton and lasted five innings, giving up nine hits and seven runs. He struck out four and walked three. Keyser worked the sixth and final inning. He gave up six hits and seven runs, while walking two Valley batters. The Vikings, who scored two runs in the first inning, three more in the second and two in the fifth, pounded out 15 hits in the win, including doubles by seniors Drake Hyden, Austin Perdieu and Gabe Harlan. In all, eight different batters got a hit for the Vikings, who have outscored their four opponents this season 44-19. “We had a good day again today, obviously scoring 14 runs,” said Branock. “The guys have been working hard in practice. What I was looking for after we came out big in the first game (of the season) with a 14-4 win is how we would respond. We’ve had great rounds of BP the last couple weeks in practice, they’ve had good approaches in practice to what we’re doing, and good approaches in games, which is what I think is leading to our high run-scoring average.” Perdieu was 3 for 4 at the plate Monday. In Valley’s last two games, the pitcher/leftfielder is 5 for 8 with two home runs, a double and six RBIs. “He’s locked in right now,” Branock said of Perdieu. “If you’ve played baseball then you understand there’s times it looks like a beach ball coming in, and there’s other times it looks like a golfball coming in. Right now he’s seeing it really well. He’s not chasing bad pitches, and his approach has been really good. He’s waiting to get what he wants.” Webster also had three hits for Valley, while Hyden, Bussard and sophomore Alec Craig had two hits each. The Vikings are in action again Wednesday when they host county rival Warsaw. Triton hosts Caston today, and then travels to county rival Plymouth Thursday. “We’re a little young,” said Hargrave. “I’ve got two freshman that are starting varsity right now, plus two sophomores, and they deserve it. But with four guys who haven’t had a lot of varsity experience, it’s a little rough, and pitching, pitching pitching. Just like every small school, everybody’s gotta try and pitch, and we’re a little short on that.”
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 14, TRITON 1 (6 innings) TV 230 027 – 14 15 2 Tri 100 000 – 1 1 2 TV – Luke Helton (W, 6IP, 1H, 1R, 7K, 3BB) Tri – Skyler Reichert (L, 5IP, 9H, 7R, 4K, 3BB), Cordale Keyser (1IP, 6H, 7R, 0K, 2BB) 2B – Drake Hyden (TV), Austin Perdieu (TV), Gabe Harlan (TV) Records: Valley 3-1, Triton 0-2
