AKRON – As the throw from Tippecanoe Valley catcher Garrett Bell zipped across the diamond to first baseman Luke Helton, you could smell grandma’s fresh pie sitting on the window sill. The final out of Wednesday’s 3-2 Valley win over Peru capped the Three Rivers Conference baseball season where both Peru and Valley, along with Whitko and Southwood, all claimed a slice of the TRC baseball pie.

The baseball at Valley was well-played and filled with emotion. Valley lefty Eric Hammer showed the mettle of a four-year starter, working out of three huge jams to keep his team alive.

With runners on second and third in the first, Hammer got a pair of outs to strand both. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Peru only managed a run on a fielder’s choice RBI from Brady Miller. Hammer closed the door in the inning with a strikeout.

In the fifth, Peru answered the bell when Dexter Shuler ripped an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2. After a Nathan Brimbury single, Hammer again escaped further damage with a huge strikeout to end the inning.

Hammer allowed just one more Tiger to reach scoring position in the sixth, but got another strikeout to end the threat. Hammer had 12 strikeouts in his complete game, giving up five hits and four walks.

“I knew the team would put up some runs, we’ve done that all year long,” Hammer said. “These guys are good at fighting back. I don’t worry about much on the mound knowing the guys behind me. I think today’s game was like a lot of games we’ve played this year.”

Valley was forced to answer after Miller’s RBI equalized a Helton RBI double in the first inning.

Bell had two huge championship moments at the plate for the Vikings. The first coming in the bottom of the fourth when his cue shot single found right field, scoring Brandon Webster, who walked and stole second to set up the RBI.

In the sixth, Webster led off the inning with a single and had Jay Myers move him to second. Bell then laced a single up the middle to bring Webster home for the 3-2 lead.

“It felt great to stand there knowing I helped the team out,” Bell said of his eventual game-winning RBI. “It’s new to us, even playing teams like Maconaquah, we didn’t know what to expect out of them. A lot of cold games. We just had to keep working hard and today we got the job done.”

Peru entered the night 7-1 in the TRC, and the loss set into motion win-share possibilities with Whitko and Southwood, both coming into play at their respective sites with 6-2 TRC marks. Valley, also at 6-2, did its part to move to 7-2 while Peru settled at 7-2. Whitko rolled over North Miami, 14-0, while Southwood crushed Rochester, 16-1, leaving the top of the heap splitting the pie four ways.

“We feel we are as good as anybody,” stated Valley head coach Justin Branock. “We don’t always show it, but we are trying to get there where we expect to win every time out. We know if we compete and do the little things, we can stand on this field and say we are a conference champion.

“We know that everyone for the most part in this conference has one or two kids that can really throw the ball well,” Branock continued. “There are no off nights in this conference. When you look up and see four teams all finished 7-2, that’s a testament to the grind these kids endured.”

The Three Rivers Conference hadn’t had a tie atop the standings since Northfield and Rochester split the title in 2005, and 2002 saw Northfield, Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley all finish 5-2 overall, which was the last time Valley won a TRC title. Whitko won its first TRC crown since 1985. Southwood’s finish gives them two straight titles.

Valley moves to 15-6 overall and could potentially run into Peru again Saturday at the Twin Lakes Invite.