Wallace pitches complete game, provides big hit in Dayton's win over Porter

Hunter Wallace gave the Broncos the start they needed. Not only on the mound, but at the plate.

The junior struck out the side in the top of the first and poked a two-run single in the bottom of the inning. It was key as Dayton took a series-opening 4-1 win over Porter Tuesday night.

Dayton (9-11, 2-1) is on its longest winning streak – four games – since the 2021 season. The victory matched last year’s district win total and the Broncos are one win away from matching last year’s overall win total.

Porter (13-7, 3-2) saw its three-game winning streak snapped. The Spartans won twice against West Fork last week by a combined 18-3 score.

“We did well throughout the whole game,” Dayton coach Matt Moore said. “Played some clean defense, made some tough plays in the middle when we needed to. We didn’t let the emotions of the game take over. Which was awesome.”

Wallace was punching them out left and right. He totaled seven strikeouts in the complete game performance. The lone run was unearned and he gave up four hits and two walks.

“I think (it set the tone),” Wallace said of the first inning. “Three strikeouts really set the tone and then we hit. We got three in the first inning.”

It was Wallace’s first district win on the mound this season and he came off a fine performance in a non-district game last Tuesday against Livingston.

“He did a great job coming out,” Moore said. “He’s somebody that if he has a good first inning, you know it’s going to be a good start. He came out and struck out the side to start.”

The hit was a piece of work. Wallace did what he could with the offering and sent a solid opposite field ball for a triple that scored courtesy runner Kyler Moreau and Ivan Lopez.

“I knew he was pumping and I just needed to get the bat in,” Wallace said. “That’s what I did and hit it to where the shift wasn’t.”

Said Moore, “He had the hit to drive in a couple and really get us going. It ended up being what we needed to win. It was a great job and a great confidence feel for him to take him through the rest of the game.”

A 3-0 start on Porter ace Joseph Perillo was huge. Perillo, a lefty committed to Texas Tech, went on to strike out 10 in 5⅓ innings.

“That’s a great arm,” Moore said of Perillo. “A really good arm. But our kids are tough. They are tough kids. They knew what was coming. They didn’t back down to the challenge and they put him into some tough situations and we were able to be successful.”

Wallace carried a perfect game into the fourth inning. He allowed the Spartans lone run that inning on an RBI single by Chris Gonzeles.

Dayton got that run back in the sixth on a Zak Wood RBI, who was 2-for-3.

Last year in a 7-6 loss to Porter, Wallace went six innings, but allowed five earned runs on eight hits.

“It feels good,” Wallace said of the turnaround in this game. “Last year, I didn’t do very good. But this year I knew I had to make a statement. I feel like I did.”

Porter won both meetings last year but a combined three runs.

“We always play these guys close,” Moore said. “In the past, it hadn’t gone our way. But this is this year. It was a good start and we look to build on it as we keep going through.”

Wallace helping his team to the win was huge for him.

Porter came in winners of four straight and the Spartans still lead the all-time series 13-8.

“It’s really big,” Wallace said. “Since I’ve been in high school, we haven’t beat them. We’ve never beat them, but finally this year, we went out on top.”