Oran pounces Saxony 14-0

Oran first baseman Bear Hicks tries to catch Saxony Lutheran runner Conrad Bonney off first base after a pickoff throw during Tuesday's game at Oran High School. Bonney was safe on the play but Oran won the game 14-0. Brent Shipman, Staff

ORAN -- After stranding five runners through the first two innings Tuesday, the Oran Eagles found the timely hitting they needed against visiting Saxony Lutheran.

Combining for 12 runs through the third and fourth frames the Eagles cruised to a 14-1 win over the Crusaders in five innings on the mercy rule.

"We came out swinging the bats today and hopefully we'll continue to," Oran head coach Mitch Wood said. "We bunted some people over and got some people in the right position and were able to get our top of the order up."

Oran held a slim 2-1 advantage heading into the bottom of the third inning, having left the previous inning with only one run after loading the bases with no outs. Their luck began to change, however, when Jacob Priggel led off the third with a single past the shortstop.

An error two at bats later opened up a four-run rally by the Eagles with Priggel scoring on the play before a passed ball gave Oran a 4-1 edge. Hits by Kody Moore and Alex Heuring capped the rally by driving in a run each to make it 6-1.

Even with a comfortable five-run lead already in hand, it was the fourth frame that allowed Oran to send the fans home early.

Taking advantage of another leadoff single by Priggel, the Eagles rallied for their final eight runs of the afternoon.

With the bases once again loaded, Seth Ressel plated the first run of the frame with an infield single before another pair of Eagles crossed the plate on a dropped pop fly. An Alex Heuring double kept the drive alive, scoring another two runs to put the mercy-rule in effect and Bear Hicks followed him with an RBI single.

The inning was capped with a bases-loaded line drive to left-center field that drove in the final two runs of the game. All eight runs were scored with two outs and it was the second straight inning Oran batted around the order.

"We have them some walks and a couple errors," Saxony Lutheran head coach Paul Sander said. "If you give them three outs and inning you have a chance. You give them four or five an inning and they're going to get you."

Going all five innings, Oran's Seth Ressel picked up the win. He allowed three hits and a walk while striking out six.

Of his 48 pitches, Ressel threw 37 strikes and got ahead often by throwing first pitch strikes to 16 of the 19 hitters he faced.

"His last few outings have been very good," Wood said. "So it was really nice (to see). It was a good outing."

Oran's 15 hit attack was led by Priggel, who went 4 of 4 at the plate, driving in a run and scoring two.

Heuring was 2 of 3 with a double and two runs scored with Chance Tenkhoff and Preston Hahn also contributing two hits. Tenkhoff also drove in a pair of runs and scored three.

For the Crusaders, Gabe Bohnert, Jack Lake and Nathan Hurst all had a single.

"We're 5-6-1 and our record is what our team is," Sander said. "We have a good game or two and then we regress and have a weaker couple games so we're looking for consistency.

"We start three freshmen and four sophomores a lot of the time. I never make the excuse we have a young team because I don't think that's a good excuse, but we have an inexperienced team."

Now at 8-4, Oran will participate in the Notre Dame Tournament this weekend, starting with Helias at 5 p.m.

Saxony 001 00 - 1

Oran 114 8x - 14

WP -- Seth Ressel. LP -- Conrad Bonney. Multiple hitters: (O) Seth Ressel 2-4, Alex Heuring 2-3, Jacob Priggel 4-4, Chance Tenkhoff 2-3, Preston Hahn 2-4. 2B -- (O) Heuring.