Oak Hill – Generosity is a great character trait to have in life. Not so much on the baseball diamond.
Thursday night in their Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 elimination game, Oak Hill was handing out gifts in all of the wrong areas.
Princeton was happy to take full advantage.
On the receiving end of five errors and nine walks, the Tigers tallied double digit runs for the second night in a row to gain a 10-4 victory over the Red Devils.
“Their effort here in the postseason has been really impressive. Throughout the season, we have had so many ups and downs. We would play well for a stretch and then we would go for a stretch where we couldn’t buy a win” Princeton head coach Brandon Dunford said. “We are very young, but what I have been able to see is, 1-through-9, we can put a bat on the ball and score some runs when they want to. This is the second night in a row that we put up 10 runs. That shows if you get hot, you never know what will happen.”
Deuces were wild early with the game tied 2-2 after two innings of play, but both teams were left expecting more.
Princeton had runners at second and third with one out in the opening frame, only to score once on a Grant Cochran sacrifice fly.
Two one-out walks and a well executed hit-and run by Ethan Hendrick plated a second run in the next inning and gave the Tigers another threat.
The threat faded however on a fly ball out and a ground ball to second base.
Oak Hill then evened the game in the home half of the second, but it too was left looking for more.
After a couple of one-out walks opened the at-bat, the Red Devils took advantage of some Princeton generosity. An RBI-single from Micah McCarraher cut the lead in half before Cole Legg reach on an error to even the score.
With runners at first and second and one out, the threat faded as fast as it developed.
Brody Combs gathered a ground ball hit to him at third base, touched the base for a forceout and fired a seed across the diamond for an inning ending double play.
“Our defense has really come along this year, even with us having to move some players around,” Dunford said. “Tonight was the first time Brock Halsey has played first base this year. We just had to make some moves to get people in place and keep our bats in the line-up.”
Both teams settled in over the next couple of innings before Oak Hill took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning.
A leadoff double from Jayden McClain ignited a two-run inning for what appeared would be the spark that the Red Devils needed.
Looks were deceiving.
“I knew it would be a tough mountain to climb tonight, but the (effort) we put forward today just wasn’t their. I didn’t feel like we had the urgency, especially for this time of year,” Oak Hill heads coach Chris Hendrick said. “When we finally took the lead, I talked to them and I thought our energy would change a little bit, but it was the same. We were just flat and I can’t figure out why. One on one they are amped up, but when we get on the field nobody wants to take charge. That is a problem that we have had all year.”:
Another problem that has plagued Oak Hill is errors on routine plays. In the top of the sixth a pair of crucial ones opened the gate for a big Princeton inning.
Combs opened the inning with a short pop-up to first that fell for a hit before two errors over the next three batters loaded the bases with one out.
“We are young and when this team has seen some adversity, they have had trouble,” Hendrick said. “But both teams that we faced the last two days were young. We just have to figure out how to want it a little more and have a little better work ethic.”
Rattled by the play behind him, freshman hurler Hunter Elswick surrendered a run on a wild pitch and walked Ethan Hendrick to reload the bases. Deegan Walters lifted a sacrifice fly to give the visitors the lead again, this time for good.
“For what I had to ask of my freshman, I thought he did the job that I needed him to do,” Hendrick said. “I hate it for Hunter who got ground balls and finally had a good outing. This is a hard one to take really.”
Another free pass resulted in a pitching change and sophomore Zach Jenkins gave the new arm a rude greeting.
“I just spoke with Zach and told him to just simplify,” Dunford said. “Keep everything simple and give me a good line-drive. That hit brought in two runs and really gave us the momentum.”
Jenkins ripped a double down the left-field line to push the lead to 7-4.
“We started off a little rocky with the command pitching. We made a switch and brought in Lucas Monaghan who commanded the strike zone,” Dunford said. “Then we took what they gave us and we had timely hitting when we needed it. We put the bat on the ball, scored some runs and the defense held up all game.”
The final nail for Oak Hill came in the bottom of the inning on a spectacular defensive play by Monaghan.
A diving catch on a bunt that was popped up, resulted in an inning ending double play, erasing the runner at second base.
“That was a big difference maker,” Dunford said, “That really got our energy going after we put put some runs on the board.”
The Tigers scored three more in the top of the seventh inning and set the Red Devils down in order in their final at-bat.
Of the 10 runs scored Thursday night, six were knocked in by Hendrick and Walters.
“I looked and my nine-hitter and my lead-of guy had three RBI apiece tonight,” Dunford said. “That is six runs from guys that you are just trying to get on the base paths for guys to drive in. That was awesome.”
Princeton now heads to Fairlea to play Greenbrier East Friday night. One win for the Spartans will earn them the sectional title. The Tigers will need a win Friday and Saturday for sectional bragging rights.
