Oran baseball takes free passes, beats Bell City 3-2 in potential postseason preview

Oran third baseman Cole Priggel applies a tag to Bell City's Austin Hicks in front of third base for the final out of the game, sealing a 3-2 win for the Eagles on Monday, May 8, 2017, in Bell City, Missouri.

Josh Mlot

BELL CITY, Mo. -- With district seeding already announced, Monday's meeting between the Bell City and Oran baseball teams meant little.

But it was a potential preview of a Class 1 District 2 title matchup next week, and Oran (12-3) took advantage of some early opportunities and then held off the Cubs down the stretch to grab a 3-2 victory at Bell City High School.

"I hate it that this game is after the seeding meeting because sometimes it feels like it doesn't mean anything, but you tell that to the kids and you're not going to get anything out of them. It means something to both sides," Oran coach Joe Bickings said. "Being able to get that win is a good win, but at the same time districts is coming up and we can't overlook anyone to get to Bell City. We've got to get there first."

Just days after Bell City (14-6) received the district tournament's top seed, the second-seeded Eagles needed just two hits to get past the hosts, instead capitalizing on 10 walks.

"Walks, a lot of times they score, and they did," Bell City coach Justin Simpher said. "We gave them opportunities. You want to limit base runners and we didn't do that and then they were able to put together some hits to score some runs. We've got to limit those opportunities ... so we're not trying to battle back against a good team."

Oran shortstop Drew Reischman forces out Bell City's Austin Hicks at second base in bottom of the first inning Monday in Bell City, Missouri.

JOSH MLOT

After going up 3-0 early on, the visitors had to survive pressure from the hosts, who scored two runs in the fifth inning to make things interesting, and then put the game-tying run at second base in the bottom of the seventh.

"They're No. 1 in the state and they're No. 1 in the state for a reason," Bickings said. "They're a good team and they battled back from 3-0 (down). With us playing them, it's always close, so I knew that was going to happen."

Bell City threatened in the final inning when Kenny Bradshaw got his second hit of the day to lead things off, but a ground ball to first base as the Cubs order turned over led to a double play. Then, with two outs, Austin Hicks singled to center and moved up on a base-on-balls to Bobby Wright, but a ground ball to third base saw Hicks tagged out on a fielder's choice to allow the Eagles to escape with a win.

"We battled and found ourselves back in the game and kept ourselves in the game, so to speak," Simpher said. "When everything was kind of going against us we came up with some big plays to limit the damage and keep the game where it was, then found a way to battle back. It came from some of the guys lower in the lineup that got things started for us, and that's good to see -- different people stepping up. ... We found a way to battle back and gave ourselves a chance."

Birthday boy Wright got the start on the mound for the Cubs, giving up just two hits and striking out six batters, but 10 free passes hurt his cause, with three in each of the first two innings especially costly.

"He was effectively wild," Bickings said. "He was able to mix in some pitches. He was wild, but when he had to he was able to bear down and get us out. We've got to do a good job on the offensive side of taking advantage of those opportunities and scoring some runs and putting up a bigger crooked number than we did. I think we scored those three runs in the first two innings and most of our runners were walks. We've got to make sure with those opportunities, we don't just open the door, we kick it in."

Oran scored one run in the first and two in the second -- all three runners reached base on free passes -- and that was all it needed.

Wright took the loss in 4 2/3 innings of work.

Cole Priggel got the start and the win for the Eagles, also going 4 2/3 innings, striking out one and walking two. Both runs he allowed were unearned.

Clay Sauceda pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings in relief, allowing one hit and striking out one, and Todd Priggel came on with a runner on and no outs in the bottom of the seventh to work out of trouble and earn the save.

"Cole did well," Bickings said. " ... For the most part he was throwing strikes and was able to let our defense play. Clay came in and threw strikes and gave us a chance, and then Todd, a save situation, he's a freshman but he's a little bit more mature. He's not a freshman anymore, is what I tell him. He was ready to come in in that situation, so that's good to see."

The first three batters of the game drew walks, as Oran quickly loaded the bases in the top of the first and took a 1-0 lead on a ground-ball out by Cole Priggel.

It was more of the same for the Eagles in the second, as their first two hitters drew free passes before a one-out double by Drew Reischman pushed Denver Elfrink home. It was the only extra-base hit of the game for either side.

A walk to Layne Johnson loaded the bases for Oran, and Sauceda dropped a ball into shallow right field to score Wyatt Kinney and take a 3-0 lead.

Bell City pitcher Bobby Wright throws during a baseball game against Oran on Monday, May 8, 2017, in Bell City, Missouri. The visiting Eagles took down the Cubs 3-2.

Josh Mlot

Wright settled in over the next couple of innings until he walked three of four batters faced in the top of the fifth inning. Chase Dembowski came on in relief with two outs, thanks to a double play, and induced a ground ball to escape any damage.

Dembowski pitched 2 1/3 innings, not giving up a hit or a walk and striking out one.

Bell City got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, as Bradshaw got a leadoff single to left and Cole Nichols reached on an error. A deep fly ball out and a stolen base moved both runners into scoring position, and Logan Yates brought them home with a two-out single to left field for a 3-2 score.

Yates had a chance to play hero again in the bottom of the seventh, coming up with two outs and two on and having already picked up two hits on the day, but Todd Priggel got him to ground out to third base for the force play.

"We didn't let the wind go out of our sails and just lay down like 'Game's over,'" Simpher said. "That was good to see this time of year."

Yates was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs on the day, while Bradshaw was 2-for-3.

Reischman was 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored for Oran, while Sauceda was 1-for-2 with a run batted in.

Bell City followed up the loss by defeating Advance in a doubleheader nightcap, 2-1.

The Cubs close out the regular season Wednesday against Valle Catholic at Capaha Park.

Oran hosts Poplar Bluff on Wednesday.

WP -- Cole Priggel. LP -- Bobby Wright. Sv -- Todd Priggel. 2B -- Drew Reischman. Multiple hits -- Bell City: Logan Yates 2-4, Kenny Bradshaw 2-3.