PERHAM – The Perham pitching staff made an early-season statement on Thursday night in a doubleheader sweep over Hawley.
After Gage Germolus’ one-hit, five-inning shutout in game one, Blaiz Schmidt retired all 15 batters in order for a perfect game. Schmidt struck out five batters and did not allow a baserunner in the Yellowjackets’ 11-0 mercy-rule victory.
Perham got on the board in the top of the first inning when Chas Melvin scored on an error. The lead doubled in the top of the third inning on an RBI single from Schmidt.
Rian Solberg got in on the action with an RBI double to center field. Colton Dilbeck, the courtesy runner for Schmidt, and Melvin came around to score. Jack Mensing drove in Solberg with a sacrifice fly before Logan Pulju scored on a fielder’s choice.
Perham tacked on a couple more in the top of the fourth inning. Ben Schumansky drove in Colton Hackel with an RBI single before Gamble Bye scored on a fielder’s choice to make it an 8-0 game. Schumansky drove in two more runs with an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning before Solberg added another run-scoring hit.
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Schmidt got a ground out and a pair of flyouts to secure his perfect game in the bottom of the fifth. It was a stellar performance to go along with Germolus’ impressive game-one outing. He went five innings, striking out nine batters and allowed just one hit. His run was unearned as the Yellowjackets cruised to an 11-1 win.
The Nuggets struck first when they scored on an error in the top of the first inning. Perham got the run back in the bottom of the second when Austin Aanenson doubled to score Pulju. Solberg made it a 2-1 game an inning later with an RBI single.
The Yellowjackets did most of their damage in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bye drove in a pair of runs with an RBI single before Melvin doubled to make it 5-1. Pulju scored Melvin and Hackel two batters later with an RBI single before Germolus helped his cause with an RBI single of his own.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Pulju drove in Melvin with an RBI double to give Perham its first of two 10-run rule victories of the season.
