The Terrace Hawks kicked off their postseason run with a commanding 3–0 shutout over Shorecrest on May 8, thanks to a lights-out performance from senior ace Jeremy Perreault. With sunlight gleaming across the diamond and the energy of playoff baseball in full force, Perreault delivered seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing just three hits to seal the win.
Back to the beginning, the Shorecrest Scots started the game at bat. Perreault returns to the mound after a dominant no-hitter in the previous match against Archbishop Murphy.
Perreault throws his first pitch, which Shorecrest player Quinn Burham hits straight into the ground. Junior Jack Gripentrog fielded the ground ball and got Terrace’s first out. Burham, however, isn’t done yet—he successfully stole second while Perreault looked away. Shorecrest senior Brook Murray then drove in another player on base for the Scots, reaching first on a short hit to left field.
Perreault bounces back, striked out Burham while he attempts to steal a base, and then strikes out sophomore David Telling to close out the top of the first. The Hawks’ first time at bat goes by quickly, with the highlight being junior Charlie Schofield getting walked to first base.
The top of the second inning belonged to Gripentrog. The first ground ball from the Scots was caught immediately by Gripentrog at first base. He shined again when Senior Nolan Valdivia fired a perfect throw to him for another out. Perreault finishes the inning with another strikeout, wrapping up the top of the second.
The bottom of the second results in just one hit: Senior McCoy LaBlanc grounded a ball to first base. Senior Oliver Verdoes also shines in the second for the Scots.
Valdevia makes another great throw to Gripentrog to get the first out at the top of the third inning. A grounder came to LaBlanc, who launched it to Gripentrog for yet another out at first. Perreault ended the top of the third by striking out the Scots once more.
The Hawks were looking to pull ahead as they came up to bat in the bottom of the third—and Meek delivered. He grounds a hit to first base. Schofield followed up with a surprise bunt and sprinted to first. Gripentrog continued the streak with a bunt of his own, reaching first and loading the bases for Valdivia.
Valdivia stayed patient and drew a walk, allowing Meek to score the first run and putting Terrace up 1–0. With the bases still loaded, sophomore Cian Harney stepped up and hit a deep ball to right field. Though it was caught, the hit was long enough for Schofield to sprint home, extending the Hawks’ lead to 2–0. Terrace ended the third with two huge runs.
Perreault dominated the top of the fourth with three more strikeouts, passionately yelling as he finished—marking 12 consecutive scoreless innings. In the bottom of the fourth, senior Braeden Davidson hit a deep ball to left field, reaching first base. Taking advantage of the pitcher’s distraction, he successfully stole second. Meek followed with a deep hit to center field and then stole second as well. Unfortunately, the inning ended with Schofield and Gripentrog being the final two outs for Terrace.
In the top of the fifth, LaBlanc caught a high ball in right field, and Perreault followed with a strikeout. Then, in a stunning moment, Perreault makes a leaping catch to close out the inning. He had this to say about the play “That line drive I caught coming right back at me—that got me so hyped. Then, when they were yelling at me in the sixth, it felt so good to just yell right back.” Terrace struggled in the bottom of the fifth, going 0 for 3 at the plate.
Schofield started off the top of the sixth with a sharp throw on a ground ball to Gripentrog. Perreault continues his incredible pitching, striking out the Scots yet again. At the start of the bottom of the sixth, Davidson is walked to first and quickly steals second again. Schofield followed with another walk, loading the bases. Gripentrog walks as well, allowing Davidson to score and increasing Terrace’s lead to 3–0.
Hudson Ekstrom, a senior from Scott, throws 18 straight balls in a pitching disaster, though he recovers slightly with a few key pitches to end the inning.
After his dominant performance, Perreault reflected on what fueled his success and shared his thoughts on the upcoming playoff game.
“Honestly, I was coming off the shutout against Archbishop last week. I just kept telling myself, do the same thing—good things happen when we throw strikes. In the innings where I didn’t walk anybody, they couldn’t do anything,” he said.
