A young Perry baseball team struggled to win three wins this year.  The squad had just three seniors, who contributed on a nightly bases.  Head Coach Michael Craig had to routinely write in a combination of five freshman and 8th graders into the lineup.  Mason Hayes was tasked with a heavy workload.

Hayes pitched a team high 41 innings.  The lefty made eight starts while striking out 61.  The freshman had an ERA of 3.59, which led the team.  The defense routinely let down the southpaw as he surrendered 30 unearned runs.

Hayes settled into the meat of the batting order and launched his first career homer against Nevada on June 4.  The lefty swinger became the first Bluejay freshman to homer since Michael Lansing in 2011.  His average grew over 100 points in his second year of varsity ball to .305.  He had a team high seven doubles and finished second with 17 RBI’s.  One of those was at Principal Park in Des Moines as Hayes lined an RBI single to right field as Perry walked off Greene County 5-4 on June 16.