Windom 000 100 022 = 5-10-0
Fox Lake 000 000 000 = 0-0-3
The Region 10C Playoffs started in perfect fashion for the Windom Pirates Thursday night in Truman, as the Pirates claimed a 5-0 victory over the Fox Lake Foxes.
Pirate pitcher Luke Gilbertson retired all 27 Fox Lake batters to step to the plate for a perfect game.
Gilbertson needed just 86 pitches to record the perfect game and struck out nine. He did not face a three-ball count the entire game.
In the early going, Fox Lake pitcher Paxton Gravlin was equal to the task, holding the Pirates off the board for the first three innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the second inning.
But in the top of the fourth, Windom took the lead when Quintin Tietz hit the first pitch of the inning over the left field fence for a solo home run, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Gilbertson continued to keep the Foxes guessing, with Windom’s infielders scooping up ground ball after ground ball.
The Foxes had two fly balls to deep center field in the game. Everything else was a groundout, infield pop-out or a strikeout. One of Fox Lake’s best chances at a baserunner came on a ground ball to third base. Pirate infielder Alex Fink scooped the ball and threw on the run, with first baseman Kobe Lovell digging a low throw out of the dirt.
The Pirates stretched the lead in the top of the eighth with one out. Alex Borsgard reached on an error and stole second. Brett Willaby then beat out a bunt, putting runners on the corners. Gilbertson then hit a grounder that was mishandled by the Fox Lake infield, plating a run. After Willaby was caught trying to score on a failed squeeze bunt attempt, Gilbertson scored on a wild pitch for a 3-0 Pirate lead.
The Foxes had a chance to gain a runner in the eighth on a ground ball wide of first, but Lovell fielded the play cleanly and flipped the ball to Gilbertson, who beat the Fox Lake batter to the bag for the inning-ending out.
The Pirates then put the game away in the top of the ninth. Keenan Wenzel singled and advanced on a wild pitch. With two outs, Drew Rothenberger hit a fly ball that the Fox Lake center fielder lost in the lights, resulting in an RBI double. Rothenberger later scored on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the ninth, Gilbertson struck out the side, completing the perfect game.
Wenzel led the Pirate offense with three hits in the win.
The Pirates will host Fox Lake tonight (Friday) in the second game of the best-of-three series at Island Park, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
If the Pirates win, they will advance to the Region 10C semifinal round, which would start July 30. If Fox Lake wins, a tiebreaking third game in the series would be played Sunday at Island Park, starting at 2 p.m.
