After a shaky first inning, Peterson Rock Drillers pitcher Skylar Bove settled in to throw five straight scoreless innings while the offense began to heat up as the Drillers defeated Pub Monte 12-3 in the title game of the Montesano Little League Junior League on Saturday at Vessey Field.

The Drillers took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning when Bove walked and came around to score after back-to-back singles by Tyler Johansen and Hunter Eisele.

But Bove struggled on the mound in the bottom half of the inning, allowing three runs on four hits, with two runs scoring on a fielder’s choice throwing error to give Pub Monte a 3-1 advantage.

The heavy-hitting Drillers offense responded in the following frame, tying the game at 3-3 on Gabe Pyhala’s bases loaded double to the left-center field gap.

That seemed to help Bove settle in on the mound as the right-hander cruised through a 1-2-3 bottom of the second and, with the help of a solid defense behind him, kept Pub Monte off the scoreboard through five straight innings.

“I think in the first inning, he was trying to hit corners and nibble a little bit with the top of their order,” Drillers manager Steve Bove said of his son’s performance on the mound. “After that, we just talked about throwing strikes and that the defense is going to field for you, and for the most part, the rest of the game they did. It was a good job.”

While Bove was putting up goose eggs on the scoreboard, Peterson Rock’s offense started throwing up crooked numbers. The Drillers took the lead at 4-3 when Bove, who was aboard with a leadoff walk, came around to score on a wild pitch in the third inning.

The Drillers then blew the game open in the fourth, scoring four runs in the frame, highlighted by a two-run double to the right-center field fence off the bat of Johansen, making it an 8-3 ballgame.

The game remained 8-3 through the fourth, fifth and sixth innings as Bove and Pub Monte reliever Trey Sweeney kept opposing offenses in check.

Peterson Rock padded its lead in the top of the seventh, plating four runs on four straight hits followed by Patrick O’Brien’s suicide squeeze that scored Eisele, who was aboard with a two-run triple, giving the Drillers a nine-run lead at 12-3.

“Our top of the order struggles with the slow stuff, but as soon as they started seeing some more fastballs, we were able to jump on it,” said Bove, whose offense had nine hits in the game, four of those being for extra bases. “Once they got to the fastball, they just relaxed.”

Charlie Ancich threw a perfect seventh inning in relief of Bove to end the game and clinch the title for the Drillers.

With the season ending prematurely for many of these players as Little League has cancelled regional and World Series play for 2020 due to the coronavirus, Bove said Saturday’s championship game, and the season as a whole carried special meaning.

“This means a lot, because their whole world has been turned upside down,” he said. “No school, they’re not seeing their friends. So once we were able to get out here, you saw a lot of kids coming out here just because they can. … This age group (13-14 years old) we took fourth in a tournament we had no business being in. So this year they were looking at our all-stars going and having a legitimate shot to win and go to regionals. That was taken away from them. So this at least gave them something. For six weeks, we were out here playing baseball as much as we could.”

Bove added there were positive effects in the spirits of his players.

“At first, we were all on pins and needles as to how long we were going to be able to play,” he said. “I saw joy. I saw happiness. I saw friendships, and that’s everything it meant.”

Drillers infielder John Griffin turns a double play as Pub Monte’s Caleb Silva ducks to avoid the throw during Saturday’s game at Vessey Field in Montesano. The Drillers would go on to win the Junior League title game, 12-3. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)

After a shaky first inning, Drillers pitcher Skylar Bove settled in to throw five straight scoreless innings to pick up the win the Montesano Little League Junior League title game on Saturday at Vessey Field. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)

Pub Monte second baseman Toren Crites attempts to turn a double play after shortstop Bode Poler, background, made a spectacular diving stop during the a 12-3 Little League championship loss to the Peterson Rock Drillers on Saturday at Vessey Field in Montesano. The Drillers’ Tyler Johansen slides into second on the play. (Ryan Sparks | Grays Harbor News Group)