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Oran works out of jams to advance to finals
ORAN -- Despite allowing base-runners all seven innings in their Class 1, District 1 semifinal game with Chaffee, the Oran Lady Eagles routinely found a way to get out of jams, advancing to play Naylor for the championship with a 6-1 win.
"We played pretty well," Oran's Courtney Scheeter said. "We had good defensive plays when we needed them and we came out hitting early on."
Turning two 6-4-3 inning-ending double plays, Oran was able to stop the Lady Devils in their tracks at two key points in the game.
The first came in the third inning when the Lady Devils had runners on first and third after plating leadoff hitter Adrienne Eichhorn.
In what could have been a big turning point in the game, Oran shortstop Abbey Anderson was able to quickly turn a hard hit ball by Chaffee's Maria Smith into a double play to get the Lady Eagles out of the inning.
The second came in the sixth after the Lady Devil's started the inning with a single and a strikeout.
"I don't think we've had any 6-4-3 double plays all season and then we get two here in the semifinals," Lady Eagles coach Sara Heisserer said. "I know every team practices it, but we've really been harping on it knowing that it will be a key (in the post season)."
Doing the damage for the Lady Eagles at the plate, Oran got production from both the top and bottom of the order as leadoff hitter Molly McConnell led off the game by reaching on an error. After making her way to third, she scored on a passed ball to give her team the early lead.
Making it 3-0, Oran's No. 7 and 8 hitters Morgan Todt and Jamie Kern opened the second with back-to-back hits before Todt's courtesy runner Laci Glastetter and Kern both came around to score.
Capitalizing on two hits and a couple of Chaffee errors, the Lady Eagles locked up the game with a three-run rally in the bottom of the fourth.
Loading the bases to start the inning, Shelbie Seyer and McConnell crossed the plate on an error by Chaffee's second baseman before a sac fly to left by Halle Woodfin scored Anderson for the sixth and final run of the night.
Following the three run rally, Oran got Chaffee to strand two runners in the top of the fifth before getting out of the sixth with the above mentioned double play.
Down to one final chance to save their season the Lady Devils kicked off the seventh with two of the first three Lady Devils reaching base.
Unfortunately for Chaffee, with runners on first and second and one out, Oran starting pitcher Todt forced the next two Lady Devils into a pop up to second and a grounder to short to end the game.
"We played as a team and got everybody's confidence up," Anderson said. "We just played really well today."
With a combined nine hits, Oran was led by Anderson's three hits against the Lady Devils.
Going 2-for-3, Stevie Schrum led Chaffee's on an afternoon where the Lady Devils collected a combined five hits.
Though disappointed to be going home, Chaffee coach Shawn Powderly was proud of his team's effort.
"To be honest with you, the scoreboard may not show it, but this is one of the best games we played all-around all year," he said. "We made some plays on defense and we had plenty of base runners.
"The problem was we ran into an extremely hot team. They had good pitching and had some clutch hits. On defense they flat made some plays today. We hit some balls very hard, well-placed balls, but they came in and had diving catches and everything else."
With Naylor's 5-1 win over Neelyville earlier in the day, Oran is set to take on the same team that beat them 4-2 last year in the semifinals.
Having already faced Naylor once, where they lost by one-run earlier this season, Williams is hoping her team can come out hot like they did Thursday.
"I think we need to come out confident knowing we can hit off their pitcher," she said. "We can't go in chasing pitches."
The two teams will play today at 4 p.m.
Chaffee 001 000 0 - 1
Oran 120 300 x - 6
WP -- Morgan Todt. LP -- Montana Estes. Multiple hitters -- (C) Hannah Bedwell 2-4, Stevie Schrum 2-3; (O) Abbey Anderson 3-4. 2B -- (C) Bedwell, Schrum; (O) Morgan Todt. 3B -- (O) Anderson.