Tossing a masterpiece through six innings, ADM senior starter Sam Kornstad couldn’t quite seal the deal Friday night at Perry.
Perry sophomore Janier Puente hit a two out, two-run walkoff double to give Perry a 3-2 win, handing the Tigers (3-4, 1-3 RRC) their third straight loss.
The winning rally started with a one-out double from Perry center fielder Kyle Nevitt. Kornstad than struck out Alex Long, bringing up Kade Van Kirk, who walked after a lengthy at-bat. Van Kirk spoiled off several tough pitches and took several borderline pitches off the outside corner, calls an emotional Kornstad desperately wanted.
After a mound visit from Tigers head coach Jason Book, Puente strolled to the plate and lined the second pitch he saw into the right-center field gap, scoring Nevitt and Van Kirk, as Jack O’Brien’s relay throw wasn’t nearly in time.
Puente’s heroics spoiled an otherwise stellar night for Kornstad (1-1), who went 6 2/3 innings, surrendering three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and the one costly walk to Van Kirk.
Blue Jays senior Will Whiton (2-0) picked up the win in relief, firing four perfect innings with seven strikeouts, fanning the side in both the sixth and seventh innings.
ADM’s sputtering offense again struggled, managing just three hits, all singles. The Tigers’ final base runner of the night came in the third, when Elijah McCartney picked up a two-out RBI walk that gave ADM a 2-0 lead. Nevitt, who worked the first three innings for Perry, then got Ethan Herron to fly out to right and leave the bases loaded, setting up Whiton’s dominant effort.
Kornstad retired nine of 10 batters before Zach Roberts got Perry on the board in the sixth with a two solo shot to left-center, his first of the year.
The Tigers’ two runs came in the third on an RBI single from Colin Gavin and McCartney’s walk.
ADM heads to Coon Rapids Saturday for a tournament, while Perry (5-2, 2-1 RRC) has a tournament at Nodaway Valley.

