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Bell City defeats Oran for first district title in 25 years
ORAN -- Bases loaded with the winning run on base might seem like a once in a lifetime moment for most hitters.
That scenario must feel like a recurring dream for Bell City's Bobby Wright who time and time again has been the guy pitchers want to face after intentionally walking teammate Peyton Maddox.
"Peyton Maddox is a great hitter so when there's runners on second and third in a game-winning situation, they intentionally walk him every single time," Wright said. "That's probably my ninth time being up there in that situation. I don't know if I've succeeded at that very many times."
It certainly worked to his favor this time around when Oran walked Maddox to get to Wright in a tie game in the bottom of the eighth inning Friday during the Class 1, District 2 championship game. Wright hit the game-winning single to give Bell City a 4-3 win over the district's four-time defending champion.
"I knew it was in him and I knew he'd come through," Bell City head coach Justin Simpher said about Wright's clutch moment. "He's a gamer who lives and breathes baseball. He was going to do what he could to help his teammates out."
Bell City will play at Gideon, who were 10-0 winners over Naylor in the District 1 finals, on Monday in the sectional round with a time to be determined. This is Bell City's first district championship in 25 years.
"I don't really know how to feel yet. I can't put it in perspective right now," Simpher said about winning Bell City's first district championship since 1990. "It's just great. Oran's a great ball club and they've got a great history and we knew it was going to be a battle. Our guys, they were ready to come and play."
Oran ends the season with a 15-7 record under first-year head coach Joe Bickings. This loss halts a streak of four-consecutive district championships.
"Credit (Bell City), especially right there in that eighth inning," Bickings said. "It was one of those games going in that whoever had the last at-bat was going to win. Unfortunately, we were on the losing end of it."
Cole Nichols took the win in a relief appearance after starter Austin Hicks threw seven innings and gave up three runs on five hits.
"I just had to keep them off balance and throw different pitches at different times," Hicks said. "They can hit the ball really well if you keep throwing fastballs."
Bell City (21-3) looked to be on its way after seven innings, but the playoff experienced Oran did what they typically do and tied the game in the top of the seventh to force extra innings.
Oran faced a 3-1 deficit heading into the seventh with the bottom of its lineup leading off the inning. Blake Overfield beat out an infield single to start the rally which led to another single by No. 8 hitter Ben Heuring, who led Oran at the plate with two hits.
Heuring hit a screamer down the third base line that was mishandled by Bell City's Nolan Schaefer in left field. The ball rolled past Schaefer and nearly to the fence which allowed Overfield to score from first and Heuring wound up at second to cut Bell City's lead to one.
"I definitely knew they wouldn't go quietly," said Simpher. "They did a great job and put more pressure on us. They put themselves back in the game and did what they do."
A sacrifice bunt by No. 9 hitter Tanner McVay pushed Heuring to third then a sacrifice fly by leadoff man Thomas Trankler tied the game at 3-3.
"We were down two runs in the seventh with 7-8-9 hitters up and we came through to tie it. That just speaks volumes for our kids and the program," Bickings said. "We battled and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end. That's all you can ask."
Trankler, who replaced Oran starter Hunter Schlosser in the fifth inning, retired Bell City in order in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into the eighth inning. Nichols was tasked to limit the heart of Oran's lineup starting with No. 3 hitter Jacob Priggel.
Priggel coaxed a walk from Nichols but the right-hander was picked up by the arm of his catcher, Bobby Wright, soon after. Priggel took off on a straight steal but the pitch-out was called giving Wright plenty of time to fire a perfect throw to Jesse Smith which beat out Priggel by two steps for the first out of the inning.
"Right before that pitch was thrown coach Simpher gave me the fist bump," Wright said. "I called a pitchout and Cole threw it perfect and I just did what I've been trying to do all year."
Schlosser hit a high fly ball to left that was bobbled by Schaefer giving Oran a runner on second with one out. Nichols got a flyout and groundout to end the threat.
"Austin threw a great game. He kind of got tired towards the end so (Oran) started hitting the ball well," Wright said. "Cole came in threw strikes just like we needed him too. He's maybe thrown 14 innings for us this year. He throws a lot of strikes and just let Oran hit it and let the the defense work behind him."
Nichols led off the bottom of the eighth with a crucial leadoff walk. After Hicks missed his chance to sacrifice bunt Nichols over to second, Nate Finney held up his end of a called hit-and-run with a single to right field. The throw to third was not in time to catch Nichols which allowed Finney to coast into second with one out.
"That was executed perfectly," said Bickings about the hit and run. "Nate Finney is their three-hole hitter and he can handle the bat."
Though Maddox was 0 for 3 leading up to his at-bat in the eighth, Oran put Bell City's No. 4 hitter on with an intentional walk leaving it up to Wright. With the infield in, Wright snuck a groundball through the left side sending his teammates and Bell City fans into a frenzy as Nichols crossed the plate.
"This time I knew exactly what to do," Wright said about his game-winning hit. "I just had to put the bat on the ball and see what happens. It feels great because Oran's a great team. We were just the better one today."
Trankler, who pitched a complete game win against Advance during the tournament semifinals, took the loss for Oran after three innings. He gave up the winning run on two hits, two walks and struck out three.
"I told Thomas I was going to lose with him or win with him," Bickings said. "He's my senior and I'm going to go with him. You put people in spots and hope they can come through. (Bell City) was able to do that and we weren't."
The Cubs gained its 3-1 lead in the fifth when an errant throw by Oran on a routine play to first kept the inning alive.
Bell City had runners on first and third with two outs when Jesse Smith hit a roller back to Schlosser on the mound. Schlosser's throw took Drew Reischman off the bag at first while Smith reached safely and Tyler Evans easily scored from third to tie the game a 1-all.
With Brandon Abner on third after the Oran error, Nichols walked to load the bases for Hicks who knocked in two runs with a single that gave Bell City its 3-1 lead.
"Every game its been somebody different," Simpher said. "We just found a way to take advantage of our opportunities. The outs don't matter to them. They just do what they're supposed to do."
Oran scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning after a leadoff walk and a stolen base by Priggel led to an RBI single to right field from Schlosser.
"We were still successful this year," Bickings said. "We had five kids make all-conference and possibly one or two can make all-state. There's nothing to hang their head about."
Though pegged as the tournament's top seed, Bell City entered Friday's game as the underdog in terms of facing an Oran team with the recent history of winning playoff games. The Eagles are also two years removed from winning its first state championship.
Oran came into the game ranked No. 4 according to the latest Missouri Baseball Coaches Association Class 1 state poll. Bell City is No. 2.
"If there's a group that could do it, it was going to be this one," Simpher said about knocking off Oran. "They love baseball and look at each other as family. They have each other's back. They're an unbelievable group to coach. It makes my job easy."
Oran 000 100 20 -- 3 5 2
Bell City 000 030 01 -- 4 5 2
WP -- Cole Nichols. LP -- Thomas Trankler. Multiple hitters: (O) Ben Heuring 2-3; (B) Austin Hicks 2-4.