John's Journal: Perham Knows Baseball And That’s No Bull

WACONIA – Here’s the first assignment: Describe baseball in one word. Answers could be “pastoral” or “serene” or maybe “tranquil.”

Second assignment: Describe bull riding, the rodeo event in which a human climbs aboard a large, snorting beast and tries to accomplish two things: 1) remain aboard for eight seconds and 2) not get stomped or worse. “Mayhem” … “dangerous” … possibly even “terror.”

Which brings us, oddly, to the baseball team from Perham High School. The Yellowjackets are one of the most successful teams in Minnesota this spring, sporting a 15-1 record heading into the final week of their regular season. Their most recent win was a big one, a 2-1 escape act against Rockford here on Saturday as part of Baseball Day in Minnesota festivities. Perham is ranked third in Class 2A and Rockford, the defending state champion, is No. 5. The Rockets’ loss gave them a record of 16-3.

Perham knows about state tournaments. The Yellowjackets lost in the 2A championship game to Fosston two years ago and they were the fifth-place team at state a year ago.

“This is a big deal,” Perham coach James Mulcahy said after Saturday’s cold-weather win (temps in the upper 40s). “It's a very big game getting ready for playoffs.”

The Yellowjackets celebration included – here’s the link – a cowboy hat and references to climbing aboard a bull and riding it out. The lineup card that was taped to the dugout wall included some messaging: “Embrace it. Let it go. See the big picture. Cowboy Up!”

In baseball, the term Cowboy Up was made famous by the 2003 Boston Red Sox, who lost a seven-game American League championship series to the New York Yankees.

The team from Perham has embraced that mentality, as explained by Mulcahy.

“Cowboy Up means when the bull is in the chute and that rider is ready to go, his team in that arena tells him to Cowboy Up and you're gonna go. You’ll probably get your backside kicked on a big old bull but you've got to Cowboy Up because you're going to get thrown to the dirt and you’ve got to get back up and get on it again. So we kind of embrace that Cowboy Up mentality.”

They Cowboy’d Up real good against Rockford, aided by some breaks that went their way. Rockets pitcher Patrick Binnebose struck out eight Yellowjackets in the first three innings, but Perham scored both its runs in the second inning with the ball leaving the infield only once.

Ashton Detloff opened the second by reaching on an infield error. Drew Ellington singled to right field and the runners went to second and third on a passed ball. Detloff scored on a bunt single by Ty Rooney, an infield single by Bradyn Anderson made it 2-0 before Binnebose struck out three hitters on a row.

Perham didn’t mount any rallies after that, with Binnebose working as hard as anybody on the field. In the fifth inning he struck out the side, his hat falling off on one pitch and an arm pump following the third strike three of the frame.

Binnebose has taken over the No. 1 mound role for the Rockets. An arm injury to ace Will Haas, who will play collegiately at Tennessee, has limited him to a role as designated hitter. Haas was stellar in last year’s state championship game at Target Field, a 6-0 win over Foley. Will threw 89 pitches with 13 strikeouts and no walks that day, with just three balls leaving the infield. He is the real deal.

Regardless of the outcome Saturday, facing high-level competition was essential in preparing for the postseason.

“Yeah, exactly,” said Rockets coach Cody Hallahan. “This helps prep us for playoffs and gives us that playoff atmosphere. And ideally, yes, we would have liked to get the win, but at the same time we’ve just got to figure a way to string some hits together when we get guys in scoring position, and they'll learn from it.

“That's been the thing in all three of our losses. It’s been little things here and there that we could have fine-tuned and could have won, but at the same time, that's baseball for you. You’ve just got to roll with it and adjust for the next time.”

After the game and the handshake line, a cowboy hat came out of the Perham dugout and was placed on Ellingson’s head. Not only was he the winning pitcher, but he also was the latest embodiment of Cowboy Up, which he explained thusly…

“It’s when the bull rider gets in the chute and the whole team is out there just working together, making sure that guy stays on for eight seconds, and that's basically what we did today. We just fed off each other.”

The Yellowjackets made the three-hour drive south to Waconia on Friday and spent the night in a nearby hotel. Ellingson, standing in the outfield wearing that cowboy-themed headgear, said he and his catcher, Rooney, had stayed up late the night before, “watching film and studying.”

Obvious follow-up question: What kind of film were you watching?

Drew’s mysterious answer: “We’ve got to keep that a secret.”

My guess as to what they were watching: Yup. Bull riding.

Cowboy Up.

--MSHSL staff member John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Bluesky at johnmilleamn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected] or [email protected]