For three innings on Monday, Upper Perkiomen's baseball team displayed the competitiveness required by head coach Bobby Saeger. At the plate, it battled a highly regarded pitcher in front of a gaggle of professional scouts.

Second baseman Benjamin Sands records an out as he  turns to tag out an Upper Merion base runner.

            However, Methacton rallied for 10 runs in the final two innings Monday, needing only five innings to secure a 13-2 victory in the Pioneer Athletic Conference at Bonekemper Field.

            "A five-inning loss at home is not acceptable," Saeger said. "I made sure to tell the players that outcome is not OK."

            Evan Jones earned the mound victory for the visiting Warriors, the defending conference champions. Under the watchful eye of a dozen scouts holding cameras and radar guns positioned directly behind the backstop, he allowed one earned run in four innings while striking out six.

            Saeger described Jones, a senior who has committed to continue his career at Wake Forest University, as the best pitcher in the conference by a large margin. Still, the Indians' hitters showed no signs of intimidation.

            Jordin Dice registered two of the Tribe's four hits. He singled up the middle in the first inning off Jones, who tossed a perfect game and registered 12 strikeouts against Perkiomen Valley earlier this month. Dice added a sharp hit to right field in the third inning.

            The team worked four walks against Jones, whose fastball consistently hit between 90 and 93 mph. Upper Perk stranded seven runners, including six through the initial four frames.

            "Our guys showed they could compete," the coach said. "They choked up with two strikes, put the ball in play and created chaos on the bases."

            Upper Perkiomen (6-5 overall, 3-4 PAC) scored both its runs with one out in the third inning on an infield ground ball off the bat of Jack Rieg. With Zane Saeger on third and Dice on second, Jones fielded the grounder and delivered an errant throw to the plate. The play pulled the Tribe within 3-2.

            The Warriors responded with a three-run rally in the fourth inning on three consecutive two-out hits off Tribe starter Jackson Long. Cameron Serafin's RBI-triple sparked the flurry.  Liam Greenburg and Colin Carr added run-scoring hits.

            Methacton added seven runs in the fifth inning off two relievers. Greenburg's two-run single capped the outburst.

            "We're still at the point where we have a lot to learn," Saeger said. "The game puts you in situations where you need to get the job done if you want to be a winning team."

            On Tuesday, the Indians suffered their second straight PAC defeat. Two early errors helped cost them a 6-5 loss to Upper Merion.
            The Tribe fell behind 6-0 after the visiting Vikings scored three runs in the second and third innings off Cole Pierce. Three of those runs were unearned.
            Nate Schramm drove in three runs and Brayden Adam added two hits for the Indians, who scored once in the fourth inning and four times in the sixth inning against Upper Merion starter Tristan Fanning, who retired the side in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win.

            Last week, Pierce pitched the host Indians past Boyertown for their second straight victory. The left-hander allowed just five base runners in a 9-0 victory. Pierce went the distance, permitting two hits and striking out five hitters on 90 pitches.

            "It was a huge win," Saeger said. "Cole did a fantastic job."

            Grayson Sabo and Dice paced Upper Perkiomen's offense which converted two Bear errors into four unearned runs. Sabo finished with two hits and two RBIs. Dice notched two hits and scored two runs.

            Dice's RBI double in the first inning opened the scoring. It plated Zane Saeger from first base. Brayden Adam added a sacrifice fly.

            Two innings later, the Tribe added three more runs, two of which were unearned, off Boyertown starting pitcher Chase Waibel. Pierce and Sabo each delivered a sacrifice fly in between Rieg's RBI hit to left.

            The Indians pushed across three more runs in the fifth inning. Sabo registered an RBI single before Lincoln Fijalkowski delivered a run-scoring double. Both runners eventually scored on a wild pitch.