Oran baseball team uses big second inning to get past Chaffee

CHAFFEE, Mo. — A golden opportunity appeared in the top of the second inning Friday, and the Oran baseball team was there to take advantage of it.

The Eagles drew three walks, had three hits and tallied six runs in the inning before recording an out, and Oran was never threatened the rest of the way, picking up a 7-2 win over host Chaffee in Scott-Mississippi Conference regular-season action.

“It’s always good to see our kids battle back, and they’ve been kind of doing that all year — even when we do get behind,” Eagles coach Joe Bickings said. “We come out, we come ready to play and we battle back and try to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Oran's Layne Johnson pitches to a Chaffee batter during the third inning Friday, April 15, 2016 in Chaffee Missouri.Glenn Landberg ~ glandberg@semissourian.com

Oran (6-6, 3-2 Scott-Mississippi) faced a one-run deficit when Blake Overfield reached on a walk to begin the second inning. Layne Johnson followed with a bunt single before Tanner McVay reached on a catcher’s interference to load the bases. Austin Eftink drew a five-pitch walk, sending Overfield home and prompting a pitching change with the game tied at 1-all.

Landon Tenkhoff replaced Austin Copeland on the mound for Chaffee (10-4, 2-1), but Tenkhoff walked Jacob Shoemaker to give the Eagles a 2-1 edge before No. 1 hitter Drew Reischman followed with a decisive at-bat.

“The bottom of our lineup has actually been coming through for us, and that does wonders for us as we get back to the top of the order because it gives our better hitters opportunities to hit with runners in scoring position,” Bickings said. “That’s all we can ask from the bottom of our order is to just fight and battle and try to get into scoring position when they can.”

Reischman blasted the first pitch he saw to left-center field for a bases-clearing triple, and Cole Priggel, who finished 3-for-3 at the plate, scored Reischman with an RBI single to right. Tenkhoff struck out two of the next three batters to retire the side, but the damage was done, with Oran leading 6-1.

Oran's Tanner McVay makes a dive back to first base after Chaffee's Alec Bogenpohl chased him during a play in the third inning Friday, April 15, 2016 in Chaffee Missouri.Glenn Landberg ~ glandberg@semissourian.com

“He’s actually been coming up in situations like that,” Bickings said about Reischman. “That might be his third hit with the bases loaded since we moved him to the one-hole. ... He’s been stepping up in that situation, and I’m glad to see that, especially as a sophomore.”

The Red Devils tacked on a run in the bottom of the third when Tenkhoff led off with a double, reached third on a passed ball and scored on a single by Austin Copeland, cutting Oran’s lead to 6-2. Kade Sullivan reached on an error, putting runners on the corners with nobody out, but the Eagles got a key out when Eftink fielded a ground ball at first base and threw out Copeland at home plate. Johnson induced a pop-up to center field and got a strikeout to retire the side.

“We didn’t respond very well. It took us a couple innings, took our heads down, and then we started scratching around and had some opportunities,” Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. “We scored a few here and there, and I felt like we gave away an opportunity to get a few runs back, which could have gotten us a little closer.”

Priggel singled, stole second and reached third on a ground out in the top of the sixth before scoring on a two-out error to extend Oran’s lead to 7-2.

Chaffee's Landon Tenkhoff pitches to an Oran batter during the fifth inning Friday, April 15, 2016 in Chaffee Missouri.Glenn Landberg ~ glandberg@semissourian.com

Meanwhile, the Eagles held Chaffee scoreless in the final four innings.

Johnson threw 4 1/3 innings to pick up the win on the mound. He allowed two earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks.

“He threw a heck of a game,” Bickings said about Johnson. “He could’ve gotten down there in the first inning. He got two quick outs, but then he walked a kid and left a fastball up for their four-hole hitter. Sometimes that happens, and it does damage as the game goes on. But he bounced back and kept them in check.”

Reischman entered in the fifth and pitched the final 2 2/3 innings to secure the save. He gave up two hits and didn’t allow a run with three strikeouts and no walks.

Chaffee used three pitchers who combined for eight walks and seven strikeouts, as Copeland was tagged with the loss in an inning of work. He struck out one, walked two and allowed two hits and four runs — three earned. Tenkhoff threw 4 2/3 innings, giving up four hits and three runs — two earned — with six strikeouts and six walks before Andrew Brown pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit.

“We’ve had a few times where, for some reason or another, we’ve lost it for periods of time, and you just can’t do that. You’ve got to force the team to hit the ball,” Horrell said. “I think their last run they scored, they had an infield single, and the ball never left the infield in that inning. That’s just a good job of them taking advantage of what we’re giving them and scoring. I tip my hat to them.

“We as a team just need to find a way to get better. No. 1, we have to throw strikes, and No. 2, we just have to find a way for somebody to step up. And when we have bad innings like that, we’ve got to stop them.”

Copeland finished 3-for-4 at the plate, including an RBI double that gave the Red Devils their only lead of the game, 1-0, in the bottom of the first. Sullivan also finished 3-for-4 for Chaffee, while the rest of the lineup combined for only one hit.

Horrell said giving up one big inning has been his team’s demise in two of its four losses this season, but pursuing a regular-season conference title is still within its control.

“We feel like we’ve got everything in front of us to gain with a young ball club. That’s the good news,” Horrell said. “We get to go back to work on Monday. It’ll leave a bad taste in our mouths over the weekend, but thank God we get to play Monday.

“With a young ball club, there are going to be hiccups. ... Physical mistakes are going to happen, but we’ve got to make sure we hustle and continue to strive to be a better ball club.”

The victory moves Oran to .500 on the year and improves its winning streak to three games. Bickings hopes the win will provide his team with a solid confidence boost.

“Hopefully we can keep it going,” Bickings said. “I was an assistant here for five years under Coach Horrell, and he does a phenomenal job with his players and getting them ready to go.

“That’s a young team, and we’re a young team. And we’re going to see each other quite a bit here in the future, and it’s going to be a battle every game. I always expect that. It’s always a rivalry game. We’re eight miles away, and the kids all know each other. So they want to beat each other. We did a good job taking care of business and coming out with a W.”

Oran 060 001 0 — 7 7 3

Chaffee 101 000 0 — 7 7 2

WP — Layne Johnson. LP — Austin Copeland. S — Drew Reischman. 2B — Landon Tenkhoff (C), Copeland (C). 3B — Reischman (O), Jacob Shoemaker (O). Multiple hits — Oran: Cole Priggel 3-3; Chaffee: Copeland 3-4, Kade Sullivan 3-4.