JACKSON — Three doubles and a 3-RBI hit from Brayden Moore in the bottom of the sixth inning proved just enough to power Saxony Lutheran to a 5-3 victory over visiting Oak Ridge on April 23.
The Crusaders (8-6), coming off a 13-2 loss to Oran a day earlier, were looking for a chance to get back in the win column and didn’t waste the opportunity.
“Oak Ridge has got a nice team,” said Saxony coach Paul Sander. “They’ve got a good ball club. We struggled with leaving runners on base the first five innings where we just couldn’t get anything going with men on. We’d left eight men on base in the first five innings and couldn’t get that hit to bring anybody in. We gave them two runs in the top of the sixth, and it really wasn’t looking very good for us.”
The Crusaders were trailing 2-0 in the sixth with 1 out on the board and Oak Ridge starter Noah Engler on the mound when Kai McDowell started the Crusaders’ comeback with a single, stole second, then scored on Baylor Wilson’s double to left field. After Connor Roth hit a pop up for Saxony’s second out, Seth Stageberg drew a walk, and Jake Sparks doubled to right to send courtesy runner Tyler Lawrence home, narrowing the Bluejays’ lead to 3-2. Zach Roth drew an intentional walk to load the bases for Moore, who took full advantage, connecting on a three-run double to center field to give the Crusaders the lead — and the victory, their first since a 17-2 victory over East Carter on April 15. “I could see it either way,” Sander said of the intentional walk. “You set up the force out if you load the bases, then you’ve got an out anywhere. And Brayden, quite frankly — he’ll be the first one to tell you — he was off yesterday. He was out in front on everything until his last at-bat. So, he hadn’t had a real good day until the last at-bat. He stayed back, and he hit it on the barrel, and he bailed us out.” Oak Ridge scored 1 run in the third on a wild pitch and added 2 more in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.
Zach Roth earned the win for Saxony Lutheran, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits over 6 innings, striking out 8 and walking 2. James Hope worked 1 scoreless inning in relief, facing three batters to secure the victory. Engler took the loss for Oak Ridge, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits, striking out five and walking two in 7 innings.
“Our freshman starter [Zach Roth], he had two really good outings early in the year,” Sanders said, “then he struggled a little bit with control for a couple of outings and he was back on track yesterday. He’s very sharp. Then James Hope was in a very tough situation. He comes in from playing third base to pitch the seventh and only threw three eight pitches and got three outs.”
Moore finished 1-for-4 at the plate with a double and 3 RBI. Sparks and Zach Roth, hitting backto- back a the top of the lineup, finished 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 respectively, with 1 run scored each. Hope, McDowell and Wilson had 1 hit each.
“We’d like to be in a better position before the sixth inning,” Sander said, “and we should have been in a better position before the sixth inning. But I guess the bottom line is, if you’re winning at the end, there’s some good things that happened and there was.”
For Oak Ridge (6-8), Landon Burnett, Isaiah Mills, Kade Schilling, and Engler had 1 hit each, and Weston Riggs was credited with 1 RBI.
Saxony Lutheran is scheduled to travel to Bell City for their next game on April 29, while Oak Ridge was scheduled for five games in 7 days, beginning with a road game at New Madrid County Central on April 24 and ending with a home game against Kelly on April 30.
ORAN 13, SAXONY LUTHERAN 2
ORAN — Oran scored 13 runs in the first inning and held on to beat Saxony Lutheran 13-2 on April 22. With the loss, Saxony fell to 7-6 on the season, while the Eagles improved to 8-1.
The Eagles jumped to the early lead against Saxony starter Korby Engert, scoring on a grand slam, a solo home run, 3 RBI doubles and 5 RBI singles.
Engert took the loss after pitching 2/3 of an inning, giving up 13 runs, 3 earned, on 11 hits with 1 strikeout and 1 walk. Reliever Cole Roth worked 3 1/3 innings, holding the Eagles scoreless while giving up 2 hits and striking out six.
Saxony Lutheran scored one run in the top of the third when Jason Sparks scored after Kai McDowell was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. They added another in the fifth on a solo home run to left field by Zach Roth.
Parker Bryant earned the win for Oran, giving up no runs on 2 hits in 2 innings, striking out 1 and walking 2.
At the plate for Saxony, Roth was 2-for-3 with 1 RBI and 1 runs scored. Sparks was 1-for-2 with 1 run scored and McDowell finished with 1 RBI in 1 at-bat.
For Oran, Kole Burger was 2-for-3 with 4 RBI and 1 run scored. Carson Kern was 3-for- 3 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, Rylan Mills was 1-for-2 with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored while Bryant and Heuring each had 2 hits and 2 runs scored.
