Oran dominates East Prairie in battle of Eagles

EAST PRAIRIE -- It was guaranteed that an Eagles' squad would win on Thursday afternoon, as the East Prairie played host to Oran on the diamond, but visiting Oran swooped in for the kill, defeating East Prairie by a score of 13-0, in five innings due to the ten-run mercy rule.

"It was tough to come out and play a good team with a short bench," East Prairie head coach Steve Stokes said. "We definitely played them with everything we had, and we hit everything hard, but right at them today. I had a few get hurt earlier this week in a game, so today's lineup was a totally different look than we've had yet.

"We held on to them, They just put it in play and hit the ball extremely well. I'm proud of us for how well we hit the ball."

Oran held the home team to just three hits, as nearly every ball that was hit was on a line, but right at the Oran defense.

Oran, however, pounded out 13 hits in route to the win, with the top three of the lineup providing some damage, accounting for eight of the 13 total hits.

Leadoff hitter, Jodi Urhahn, was 2-for-4, with two singles, three runs scored and a stolen base, Taylor Irwin was 3-for-4, with two singles, a double, two runs scored and four RBIs, while Amanda Williams also went 3-for-4, with three singles, four RBIs.

All nine spots in the lineup recorded at least one run in the game.

On the East Prairie side, the three hits came off the bats of Grace Swann, Mallory LaPlant and Stephanie Morgan, who each recorded a single.

On the rubber, East Prairie's Adalyn Woodard was given the loss, giving up 13 runs, on 13 hits, three walks and recorded one strikeout.

Oran's Claire Seyer took the win, throwing all five innings, giving up zero runs, three hits, four walks and recorded three strikeouts.

"I'm proud of the win," Oran head coach Sara Heisserer said. "It's great to be building towards the end of the season. Districts are just a week and a half away, and we're hitting the ball really well up and down the lineup."

The win improves the Oran squad to 11-2 on the season, and will have them hosting their district tournament.

"Districts will be at home," Heisserer added. "That will be good for us. There's several good teams in our district."

Oran will play again on Saturday, making up a rain-out game from earlier in the season with Chaffee. The game is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Oran.

East Prairie's next competition will come from Twin Rivers on Monday afternoon. The game is in East Prairie and is scheduled for 4 p.m.